Why only now?

 

Here's the headline: "PNoy orders Abaya to improve MRT service".

That was datelined July 24, 2015.  And how long has the MRT been in a state of disrepair? For as long as we can remember.

When the MRT-3 started operations in 1998, if we're not mistaken, you could go from North Avenue in Quezon City to say, Ayala Ave., in airconditioned comfort and expect to arrive in your destination in less than 30 minutes. Compare that to a bus ride which would have taken you at least an hour.

These days, however, what used to be a 30-minute ride could have you taking much longer as you have to deal with glitches in MRT-3 operations.

How long ago was it when a runaway train rammed through the end of the line at Taft Avenue and ended up in the street where jeepneys, buses and private vehicles  were the only ones that should have been there?

Or the train could have stopped anywhere along the stretch for some reason:  the doors didn't close, the electrical system didn’t work, the brakes failed, and so on.

The news report that President Aquino has directed Transportation Secretary Jun Abaya to implement improvements in the MRT-3 system following insistent reports of problems shows how the administration is insulated from reality.

President Aquino's belated instruction for DOTC Secretary Abaya to improve MRT services is, well, way out of line, as it has been years since the riding public made known their displeasure over the way the train system is being managed by the DOTC. 

Senate President Franklin Drilon told a media interview this week that the President should take firm executive action in the face of the MRT mess as the riding public is suffering from executive inaction by the DOTC and MRT. Read that to mean criminal negligence.

Drilon was just being diplomatic. What he is trying to say is that unless Abaya and his subordinates continue with their brazen criminal negligence and their blatant  defiance of the daang matuwid, perhaps their only honorable course of action is to resign. –End-

Image by: Rappler