The Hopeless Light Rail Transit (LRT) of Manila
Posted on Monday, 11 January 2016
The
Hopeless Light Rail Transit (LRT)
By Apolinario Villalobos
When I took the LRT to Sta. Cruz on the
morning of January 10, 2016, I noticed that the driver was not making announcements
about precautions and as we were approaching stations as part of their standard
operating procedure. Instead of the announcement via the PA system, the
security guard on board was making the announcement to the highest level of his
voice that he could muster. I presumed the driver was not in the mood or just
plain lazy, until I finally drew enough courage to ask the security guard why
it was so. He told me that the PA system of the train I have taken was
kaput…broken…wrecked, defunct - for several days.
While the LRT management may treat such
breakdown a trivial matter, for the commuters, especially, those who are new in
Manila, it is not. The announcement being made as the train approaches each
station is an important information for the local and foreign visitors who are
taking the “risk” of riding the LRT train despite the discouraging forewarnings
from the media about its frequent breakdown. Without the announcement, those
who are not familiar with the stations along the route must crane their neck to
have a glimpse of the station signboard or ask other passengers, otherwise,
they might overshoot their destination.
The joke today is that, if one plans to
take the LRT or its “sister train of anguish”, the MRT, he or she must have an
“allowance” of at least two hours. The two hours are for the trek along the
rails to the nearest station when the train suddenly comes to a grinding
stop….yes, grinding because of the frightening “metal to metal” screeching
sound of the wheels. When there’s a downpour, pity are those without umbrella.
When the sun is generous with its scorching rays, pity are those without the
same contraption for shade.
The elevators are still out of order. The
escalators are still resting. The toilets are still padlocked, except for one
or two. But, fortunately, the employees are doing their best to be nice with
their ever ready smile and uncomplaining stance even when four or five
passengers one after another pay in crispy one thousand peso bill. These are
the people in the lower rung of operation who are trying make up for the
handicaps of the LRT system. Meanwhile, those at the top, including the DOTC
secretary, Emilio Abaya, are so embarrassingly naïve to the situation that
noisy calls for their resignation fall to deaf ears….theirs and those of the
president of the nation, Benigno S. Aquino III.
Discussion