LRT 2 woes

BEFORE we bring up a concern, let us first say thank you to our readers who continue to enjoy our Sunday column. We are grateful for their feedback and encouragement to us to keep writing.

Our column last week on the death of two promising young men – UST law student Atio Castillo and PMA cadet Darwin Dormitorio – got a lot of response in social media. Many shared the outrage over the useless death of two young Filipinos who could have been future leaders of our country.

Here are some of the responses last Sunday’s piece got.

“So sad, the parent weeps for the hope, dreams, and promising life that will never be enjoyed,” said reader Ziel Mateo.

“I remembered a quotation saying, ‘Tears shed for another person are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of a pure heart,’ wrote reader Kristelle Adeva.

“Waste of lives because of stupid fraternities. Unless the law makes an extreme sample of those responsible, this will happen again,” shared reader Lynne Baltao.

In that same column, we recalled the passing away of the baby who would have been our youngest daughter. We shared how the death of a child cut the heart of a parent. One of our readers shared how she saw my wife, Andeng, go through that pain.

Pemcy Asuncion wrote:

“I remember the first time I met Andeng when she attended a mass baptism that I sponsored. She was crying quietly inside the chapel. I didn’t know how to console her. I invited her to our home to have some lugaw. There, she poured out her heart, her pain. I felt it! That day, I had a new daughter! Just like you are a son to me. And, yes. God’s ways aren’t our ways!”

The other Sunday, we wrote about the inauguration of the fourth annex of the Antipolo City Hospital System. We shared our thoughts on the difference between a promise and a commitment. Our readers wrote to offer their views on the subject.

Here is a note from one of them, Bernardo Cailao of Antipolo City’s Barangay San Luis:

“Pertaining to your column in the Manila Bulletin, you are very correct, sir! And let me add my few centavos worth of opinion: those who simply make promises are transactional leaders, but those who commit something and fulfill it are transformational leaders, a ray of sunshine in a cloudy day.” Thank you, readers.

Now, on behalf of our readers, we would like to convey both our exasperation and our hope regarding the recent incident affecting Light Rail Transit (LRT) II.

This is the line that runs from Santolan along Marcos Highway in Pasig City to Claro M. Recto in Manila.

As of this day, a significant portion of this transport system is non-operational due to a recent damage to its electrical system. Transportation officials announced that it will take some nine months before the service from the Santolan depot to the Anonas station is fully restored.

We thank our transportation officials for two things: first, for providing interim transportation means from Santolan to Anonas station while the restoration efforts are ongoing; second, for doing their best to address the current situation and to restore the system within the soonest time possible.

Now, on behalf of our readers, we would like to express the difficulty of their current situation.

Several times in the past, we have explained in this column how vital LRT II is to the lives of the people who live east of Metro Manila. This transportation system ferries thousands of students from this area to their schools in Quezon City and in the University Belt in Manila.

For the past many years, LRT II has helped them travel smoothly to their schools and back to their homes. While they occasionally complained about the long lines in the stations, the general feedback is that LRT II has served them well.

We have been told it will take nine months before things get back to normal. This means our children may be enjoying the full service again by July of next year. That means they will have to face the difficulty of the current situation until the end of the present schoolyear and on to the opening of the next.

Our readers ask whether or not this situation could have been avoided by adhering to the principles and practice of “preventive maintenance.”

Could the accident involving the power rectifier at the Katipunan station been prevented if there had been regular inspection?

The way we understand it, the nearly one-year waiting period for full service restoration has to do with the procurement of a new power rectifier to replace the old one. Does this mean the public will have to bear the suffering because of the bureaucratic process that the purchase of the replacement will have to go through?

Finally, our readers ask, how does this situation affect the anticipated opening of the extension line of LRT II next year?

The latest promise is that the line from Masinag to Santolan would be operational by the first quarter of 2020. Given the fact that the portion from Santolan to Anonas would still be non-operational by then, would a first-quarter completion of the extension line be useless?

We hope our transportation officials have an answer to the public’s concern.