Anakpawis Party-list Rep. Ariel Casilao. PHOTO FROM ANAKPAWIS
A militant lawmaker slammed the Department of Transportation (DOTr) for allowing the series of technical glitches to hit the Metro Rail Transit (MRT).
“The DoTR should be ashamed not only to MRT commuters but also to tax payers as it cannot do its work properly. Millions if not hundreds of million pesos of gov’t resources are spent for the maintenance of MRT 3 but in return, it gives a horrific service,” Anakpawis party-list Rep. Ariel Casilao said in a statement on Thursday.
Casilao said the three consecutive incidents of passenger off-loading was “a grave sign” for the Duterte government to immediately do something and not just wait for another serious accident to happen.
The MRT-3 suffered 11 recorded mechanical glitches, causing the MRT to off-load passengers on the last week of October.
The lawmaker questioned the administration for pushing for the jeepney modernization when it cannot even address the MRT’s poor service.
“The DoTR had already issued a notice of termination to Busan Universal Railway Inc. (BURI) but how come it still handling the maintenance of MRT3. Mukhang ang kaya lang ni Sec. Tugade at ng gobyernong Duterte ay mga maliliit na jeepney drivers at operators, nagkukumahog mag-modernized ng jeepney pero itong sa kaso ng BURI, na madami ng sablay at malinaw na may kakulangan sa karanasan sa pangangalaga ng mga tren ay hindi nito kayang kanselahin ang kontrata. Ang lakas ng loob na magtulak ng modernisasyon sa jeepney pero hindi maayos-ayos ang bulok na serbisyo ng MRT,” said Casilao.
(It seems all that Sec. Tugade and the Duterte administration can manage are the small-time jeepney drivers and operators; they’re scrambling to modernize the jeepneys but this case with the BURI where there are so many blunders and it’s clear that there’s a lack of experience in taking care of the train that they can’t cancel the contract. They have the audacity to push for jeepney modernization but they can’t even fix the rotten service of the MRT.) /je