PRESIDENT Duterte did not hide his irritation at Congress’ withholding the grant of emergency powers supposedly requested on his behalf by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade. The President, responding to a question posed by a media reporter, lamented: “‘Yon ‘yung sinasabi ng mga first days ko sa mayorship ko dito. Na ‘yung EDSA, inaano na, na it could require huge resources, at hindi madali makunan, because kung idaan mo sa normal procedures, at hindi naman kaagad maprocess, it takes months… (That was what was being said during the first days of my mayorship here. That EDSA, in its current state, could require huge resources, and it cannot be done, because if you go through the normal procedures, it will not be processed immediately, it takes months…).”