Last
Wednesday the EDSA-MRT crashed in Taft Avenue and 38 people had been injured.
Because of the incident, the MRT management is on fire again. They are under
the criticism of the public because of their negligence. But DOTC Secretary
Jun Abaya said that it is still safe to ride in MRT. He also blamed the two drivers
of the train for not doing their duty well. He also added that it is our choice
to ride or not in MRT.
But who
should be blamed in this tragedy? Of course, not the driver like what Sec.
Abaya pointed out. It is very clear that is the fault of the MRT management,
which is under the Department of Transportation and Communication. It is really
hard to accept the fault if you knew that you only inherited the problems as
what Sec. Abaya’s argument. But P-Noy appointed him as a head of transportation
to organize our transportation system including the MRT. So, he should act as a
true leader who takes all the responsibilities in his department. If not, what’s the use of his power if he
doesn’t improve the sub-satndarstand train system in our country?
The
root cause of the mishap in the MRT 3 is because of poor maintenance and not
because the train is has been already old. It is just 15 years old compared to
LRT which is already 30 years old. But do they have a problem like MRT in terms
of maintenance? There is an allegation that Sec. Abaya gave the favor to the
PH Trams-Vitangcol group just because of their connection with the secretary and
not because they are the best maintenance group. Before PH Trams-Vitangcol group
entered, the MRT don’t have a major technical problem. But since they took over
it, the condition of the train becomes worst.
The
Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC), a company under of Metro Holding Rail Transit
Holdings (MHRTH) and a partner of MRT-3 was not favored with PHILMAR-Vitangcol
group because they were not undergoing in the right process. Beside that, they
have only a total capitalization of 5,000 pesos, but they gained monthly
contract worth of 45 million pesos. Hmm, what’s the basis of DOTC for choosing
this maintenance company and how’s the result of their work? But don’t worry
folks, their contract will be already expired. In year 2012, the MRTC requested that they
would like to conduct a technical inspection to know the true condition of our
train system. But DOTC rejected their request although their intention was for
the benefits of the public. And now, the Philippine government wants to take over the full operation of MRT despite of their
mismanagement.