PUBLISHING DATE: OCTOBER 2014
(Original Submission)
Image by Jilson Tiu
MRT: GOING OFF THE RAILS
I witnessed a small crowd rushing over the edge of the Makati Magallanes Overpass speculating at a brewing chaos below. I followed their gazes to a scene that turned my curiosity into anxiety. It was August 13, the day when the MRT-3 derailed and went past its barrier at the Taft Avenue Station in Pasay City. Questions raced as fast as I could open my phone’s browser to search for answers. No amount of securing the area from the Pasay City Police, in the hopes of managing panic, could stop passengers from spreading the news online. Twitter was abuzz with actual photos and frightening accounts, calling it the worst accident in MRT history. As the news developed, people expressing fear to use the MRT-3 soon turned into voicing anger to a situation that could have been avoided. It was the cherry on top of the amassing MRT-3 concerns commuters have long been trying to make the government take notice.
It wasn’t as if what happened was a freak accident. The government seemed to have ignored its years of neglect and warning signs piling on top of each other. The pointing fingers and Band Aid solutions the government has been known for further irk the masses. President Aquino blames the previous administration, DOTC faults the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC), and so on. In an article from Rappler.com (“Senator to transport execs: Show concern for MRT commuters”) Senator Benigno Aquino IV was surprised that the MRT-3 reached a point where “4 ‘service interruptions’ monthly; non-functioning elevators, escalators, and ticket dispensers; and an ‘obsolete’ signalling system” trouble passengers daily. KARATULA (Kabataang Artista Para sa Tunay na Kalayaan) Chairperson Michael Beltran further explains, “Since the onset, the Aquino administration had already made clear that social services were not a priority. In fact, privatization under the PPP [public-private partnership project] was a priority which effectively displaced the rights and access of people to public services. There is a barrage of justifications for the faultiness of the MRT, even going so far as Malacañang stating that [corrupted funds] could have been used to fix the train, when in fact, parts of the MRT budget absorbed into the anomalous DAP. Rampant privatization catering to big business allies coupled with corruption is a bad combination for social services like public transportation.” Senator Benigno in the Rappler.com article agrees, stating that MRT-3 is not a good example of a decent PPP.
A civil servant asking MRT takers to look for other transportation options, and some using the MRT Rush Hour Challenge as if as penance (and a publicity stunt) for what people go through daily, are marks of a government that lack empathy for its citizens, simply because its officials do not take public transport themselves. MRT user Nicole Ignacio shares, “I think that there's no harm if government officials take the train once in a while. There's no better way to understand the urgency of the situation unless you experience it firsthand. If they think that trying it out once is punishment, well, isn't that already an admission that the train system is indeed in bad shape?”
They further created this atmosphere of elitism when the MRT Facebook page restricted comments on their timeline, banning writer and MRT commuter Angelo Suarez. His irate letter to train authorities went viral when his comments were deleted and banned on Facebook. “I have never received any official response – be it in the form of an apology or an explanation – from the authorities responsible for the MRT,” he says. Suarez has been using the MRT-3 for a decade and is no stranger to taking trains around the metro since his childhood. “It hadn't always been a horrible experience. Only in recent years has riding the MRT become so daunting and dangerous. You'd squeeze yourself into a packed coach feeling and smelling fresh, then come out forlorn, hopefully with your wallet or cellphone still intact. The line to the ticket booth loops by the metrical dozens. When you already have a ticket, you will have to endure another line that's quadruple the length of the [ticket] line. Sometimes the platforms are so full that authorities on premises instruct the guards not to let anybody through the turnstiles until the situation on the platforms eases. Since the trains that come along are just as packed as the platforms, God knows when you'll be able to make it inside the train,” he shares.
MRT-3 has a designed capacity of 350,000 passengers per day, but it has been operating overcapacity, almost double, since 2004. Philippine Daily Inquirer articles (“DoTC ignored 3 MRT proposals to buy more trains” and “DOTC at fault for MRT-3 breakdowns”) state that DOTC may have overlooked MRT proposals from 2004, 2008, and 2010 to acquire more trains. DOTC Undersecretary Jose Lotilla, though, stated that it is MRTC who supposedly defaulted on buying more trains when the capacity exceeded.
The problems do not end at the August 13 tragedy. On September 2, the MRT-3 operated with its doors open risking its passengers’ safety. Currently, escalators and elevators remain inoperative for the elderly, PWDs, and pregnant women. Suarez also adds, “There is the very real danger of falling on the tracks or getting caught by the side of the approaching train, all out of sheer number of people. This, I suppose, is what prompts on-premise authorities to often halt letting people through the turnstiles for indefinite durations, but sometimes their methods for keeping people safe have been just as unsafe and frankly plain inhumane. The Taft station, for instance, uses ropes to keep commuters in check like cattle, their numbers accumulating on the staircase where anybody might fall or pass out. Even the danger of a possible stampede looms large every time there's such a crowd.” In any case, 10 years is too long a time to overlook such problems.
But there may be light at the end of MRT-3’s railway. In an article (“New MRT trains arriving in September 2015”) published in Philippine Daily Inquirer, DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya said they target projects, such as the arrival of 48 coaches from China, rail and traction motors replacements, and train overhauling, to be completed by 2016. But citizens speculate that more can be done. Marketing Professional and MRT user Katrina Atienza proposes, “Start building rail lines that extend out of the greater Manila area to decongest the city and make it easier and cheaper for people to move in and out the city. Look at Japan; that's how they were able to decongest Tokyo. Or take an example from Colombia, which was able to implement an ingenious solution like the Bus Rapid System, which was faster to implement than building a rail system. There are actually a lot of studies that give better recommendations, [these] just need to be adopted.”
The public’s growing cynicism may view such claims not only long overdue but possibly empty statements. Beltran suggests the public to get organized to urge to government to follow through. “There are already networks of concerned citizens such as the Train Riders Network (TREN) and Riles Laan sa Sambayanan (RILES Network). What is important is to convey a united message demanding accountability from the administration and for the safety of the people. [We] must link arms to demand social justice.”
