Poe laments alleged Palace decision to keep Abaya

Sen. Grace Poe.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

“Lamentable” was how Senator Grace Poe described on Friday reports that Malacañang would keep Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya despite his alleged failure to address the transport problems in the country.

READ: Abaya stays amid quit calls

“Malacañang’s reported statement that it is keeping Secretary Abaya at the DOTC is lamentable. Equally unfortunate is the Secretary’s refusal to budge from his post amid the MRT mess,” Poe said in a statement.

It was the senator herself who called on President Benigno Aquino III to fire Abaya, instead of waiting for his resignation.

READ: Poe urges Aquino: Fire ‘incompetent, shortsighted’ Abaya

But Poe remained hopeful that the President would heed the people’s call to appoint a new DOTC chief who is capable and can act immediately to address the problems, especially the suffering of the riding public of Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3.

“Let us stop invoking the original sin through the disadvantageous contract entered into by the past administrations on the MRT 3. Let us get along with this deal and gather our resources to fix whatever we can. The administration has all the resources at its disposal to do this since Day One,” she said.

“Kahit sinong makakita ng kilo-kilometrong pila sa mga istasyon araw-araw at makaranas na makipagsiksikan sa train na kadalasan ay tumitirik ay hindi na magdadalawang isip na may malaking problema sa sistema ng MRT3.”

(Anyone who sees the kilometers-long queue at the stations everyday and has experienced being huddled in trains that frequently malfunction wouldn’t think twice that there is a major problem in the MRT 3 system.)

Poe also expressed concerns over the uncertainty about the safety of the MRT after the South Korean Busan Transport Corp., which won the P3.81-billion three-year maintenance contract for the MRT 3, reportedly opted out of the deal.

“What’s the real score, Secretary Abaya? Who is maintaining the trains right now? What guarantee can you give that it is safe to board the trains?” the senator asked.

“Each day that the train runs without proper maintenance is a day of peril for the thousands of commuters,” she further said. CDG

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