House panel nearing approval of bill against drunk driving

The House transportation committee on Wednesday approved ‘in principle’ the proposed bill imposing stricter penalties against drunk driving. In a hearing about the proposed legislation, the committee also created a technical working group (TWG) that will consolidate the six bills filed on the same issue before the panel formally endorses the proposal to the plenary. Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, author of House Bill 382, was tasked to head the TWG together with representatives from various agencies supporting the legislation. For the first time since the former president joined Congress, she talked to reporters and expressed satisfaction with the result of the hearing. “It’s one of the measures I filed. I’m grateful it was the first of my bills heard (by the committee). Don’t drive when you’re drunk," she said. The Department of Transportation and Communications, Land Transportation Office, Department of Health, Philippine National Police, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, and the Department of Justice expressed support for the proposed bills. "The creation of a law defining drunk driving has been long overdue," lawyer Rosario Laborio-Cuevas from the DOJ told the panel. Arroyo said she hopes to finish the work by next week. "(The TWG should have) one week to present the finished product of this committee, (that means by) next Wednesday," she said. Southern Leyte Rep. Roger Mercado, the committee chairman, said the time frame is adequate as the bill has been extensively discussed in the 14th Congress. “I think it will not be hard for the TWG to complete the harmonization of the six bills in one week," he said. Arroyo moved for the committee's approval of the bill by next week, but Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco informed the panel that they cannot hold any hearings by then as the chamber will prioritize the discussion in the plenary of the proposed P1.6 trillion national budget for 2011. Mercado said he will ask Speaker Feliciano Belmonte to give special consideration to the committee and allow them to convene in order to approve the bill. “We will try our best to approve the bill in a week’s time," he said. - Amita O. Legaspi/YA, GMANews.TV