Poe: DOTr should consider stopping MRT operations to fix problems
Sen. Grace Poe (File photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) should decide if the Metro Rail Transit (MRT3) is still safe for public use, Sen. Grace Poe said on Thursday, hours after an MRT3 coach was detached from the main train in a latest rail incident.
Poe said the DOTr should consider stopping the operations of the MRT3 to fix its technical problems.
“Ngayon, kung kinakailangan na itigil, alam natin na maaapektuhan halos 500,000 mga mananakay pero kung iisipin naman natin ang maaaring bawian ng buhay dahil sa kapabayaan, baka kailangan lulunin natin ito ngayon,” she said in a chance interview.
(Now, if they really need to stop it, we know that it would affect about 500,000 commuters but if we’re going to think of it, lives may be lost because of negligence, maybe we should need to swallow it now.)
“Pero ang importante talaga ay magdesisyon ang DOTr at ‘pag may nangyari, akuin nila ang responsibilidad,” she added.
(But what is more important is for the DOTr to decide, and when something happens, they should take the responsibility.)
READ: WATCH: MRT riders walk to Ayala after coach detaches from train
Poe explained that the legislators could only see the problem but it is the DOTr who could act on the problems because it has the technical expertise.
She said that the woman who lost her arm after being caught between two MRT3 trains causing her arm to get entangled underneath are just few of the symptoms of a much larger problem the rail transit is facing.
READ: Woman loses right arm in accident at MRT-3 Ayala station
“Eto nga ang problema natin e, talagang natutulak na talaga tayo halos sa pader, yung MRT halos araw-araw meron talagang problema,” Poe said.
(This is our problem, we are being pushed against the wall because of the almost daily MRT problems.)
An MRT coach detached from the main train at around 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, leaving the car along the tracks between Buendia and Ayala stations. The incident prompted several of passengers to walk along the rails.
No one was hurt in the incident. /jpv
