Commuters rushing to work were not the only ones early to arrive at the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3) Ayala Station on Tuesday morning.
Because a snake coiled on a stairs handrail was there, too.
Lloyd Vincent Romero posted a video in his Facebook, showing the reptile curled up at the edge of the handrail – almost camouflaged since it seemed to have the same color as the steel – as people stare at the creature while they pass by.
According to Romero, he found the snake there around 5 a.m. and security guards of the MRT-3 could not attend to it since theyr cannot leave their posts at the station.
“MRT station was about to open, I guess, around 5:00 a.m. kaya hindi maiwan ng mga guards ang post nila sa mga ticket machines at hindi daw sila ang naka toka sa mga hagdan (MRT station was about to open, I guess, around 5:00 a.m. so the guards cannot leave their post at the ticket machines, and since they said they were not assigned to oversee the stairs),” Romero said.
Some passersby, however, braved to stop by and take pictures of the snake using their mobile phones.
The management of MRT-3 said the head guard (HG) the train station confirmed the incident happened and that it happened around 4 a.m. Tuesday.
In a Viber message, the MRT-3 management said: “Around 4 a.m. of 02 October 2018, a passerby reported na may ahas na nakapulupot sa handrail ng stairwell going to McKinley Road/BGC Bus Terminal, located at Northbound/Northwing-Unpaid Area of Ayala Station.”
(Around 4 a.m. of 02 October 2018, a passerby reported that a snake was looped around a handrail of a stairwell going to McKinley Road/BGC Bus Terminal, located at Northbound/Northwing-Unpaid Area of Ayala Station.)
It added that the snake’s removal would be the responsibility of Ayala Land as the incident happened within their property.
“Since the said area is under the jurisdiction of Ayala Land, the MRT3 HG referred the matter to the security personnel of Ayala Land, for them to take charge of its removal,” MRT Management said. /kga