Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo urged Congress on Friday to give President Duterte the emergency powers he requested to solve the traffic problem in Metro Manila, as congressional hearings on pending bills regarding the emergency powers have been suspended.
Panelo assured that Mr. Duterte will not abuse any emergency powers that will be granted to him, citing that he does not even see the need to declare martial law or suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus as suggested by some senators.
“I don’t think [he will abuse it]. We have a different kind of president—a president who is a man of integrity beyond corruption and who has a political will to walk his talk,” Panelo said.
“Even if we give him emergency powers, he doesn’t abuse. You must remember that he is the only president in the entire political career of all our politicians who has no sense of entitlement. He enforced the law even against himself and his own children,” he added.
At the Senate, Committee on Public Services Chairman Sen. Grace Poe has suspended the hearings on the pending bills proposing to grant emergency powers to Mr. Duterte to solve the traffic problem.
Poe required the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to come up with a detailed list of projects for which the emergency powers will be wielded.
At the House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation Chairman Cesar Sarmiento had also asked the DOTr to identify and define the traffic crisis, which is proposed to be solved by the grant of emergency powers. But Panelo assured that Mr. Duterte will not abuse any grant of emergency powers, citing that he does not even see any need to ask Congress to give him the power to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus as suggested by Sen. Richard Gordon.
“No, I don’t think so,” Panelo said when asked whether the President is even contemplating on declaring martial law or suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, which would have allowed warrantless arrests against persons suspected of terrorism or drug trafficking.
“Right now it’s not needed because it’s under control,” Panelo added.