Much-needed purge

It has been almost four years since Super Typhoon Yolanda (international codename Haiyan), considered one of the most intense tropical cyclones on record and the deadliest for the Philippines – killing 6,300 people here alone, battered parts of Eastern Visayas.

Yolanda’s victims included then interior secretary Mar Roxas who was criticized for his alleged incompetence in the aftermath of the typhoon, and for engaging in a word war with Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez. The Aquino administration was likewise assailed for its slow pace in its disaster management efforts during the crisis and even during the rehabilitation process. It is said that Yolanda spelled the death of Roxas’ political career, as shown by his defeat in the presidential elections of 2016.

To show he was indeed a man of action, President Duterte, during the third anniversary of Yolanda on Nov. 8 last year, immediately directed Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino to address the rehabilitation problems and tasked him to be his Yolanda housing czar.

The President ordered Dino to make the new homes at the relocation sites available by December of last year.

Dino then announced that 280 families transferred to their new homes at the North Hill Arbours relocation site.

We all thought that was the end of the Yolanda problem. And so we thought. Recently, the House committee on housing headed by Negros Occidental Rep. Albee Benitez conducted an inquiry and inspection of the Yolanda housing sites in Samar upon the resolution of Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone.

Benitez said he saw glaring substandard construction of facilities for the housing projects in a relocation site in Eastern Samar. During their visit, they met a whistle-blower who testified under oath during their formal hearing that the materials used in the construction of homes were subpar.

And then last Sept. 15, there was news that four Yolanda survivors sent a complaint addressed to the President against Dino for merely engaging in public relations in Tacloban at their expense. The signatories were Laarni Cabatingan, Vincent Basiano, Vicente Baula and Faye Quindor who asked the President to validate published results of the recent housing committee investigation.

They said they have suffered three long years under the Aquino administration, but their continued suffering under the Duterte administration could only be because the point man in the Visayas is all about PR and not actual performance.

Could this have resulted in the net satisfaction rating of the President, in a survey by the Social Weather Station from June to September 2017, dropping the highest in the Visayas to 30 percent?

The housing mess and the inaction of Duterte’s czar is expected to be highlighted when the country commemorates the fourth anniversary of the Yolanda disaster on Nov. 8.

Observers noted that Dino was conspicuously absent during a pro-Duterte rally in Cebu last Oct. 7 where Cabinet Secretary Leonardo Evasco was the main speaker. According to Evasco, he will look into the situation in Tacloban.

For his part, Dino has blamed an unnamed group and allegedly uncooperative local government units.

But it is not only Tacloban that is complaining. Victims in Panay, Northern Cebu and Eastern Samar are also awaiting for the long-promised government action.

With the President purging his Cabinet and staff of undesirables, maybe it is about time he take a serious look at Dino’s performance and find out if he deserves to remain in office.

No action can be as bad, if not worse, than bad action.

Earlier this year, the President appointed his high school classmate, retired police general Rodolfo “Garic” Jazmines Garcia as general manager for the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT 3), about the same time Cesar Chavez was promoted to undersecretary of the Department of Transportation.

Garcia, who served as director for operations when Light Rail Transit Authority administrator Reynaldo Berroya was then the MRT 3 GM, was pulled out of retirement by the President to make the rail transit work.

According to reports, when Garic took over, only 13 trams/trains were running on a daily basis. But he was able to prod Busan Universal Railway Inc. (BURI), the maintenance service provider, to get the aging trams back on track.

It was reported that these days, MRT 3 operates as much as 22 trams, averaging a passenger load of over 500,000 passengers daily. MRT 3 has also increased its revenue targets.

Under the contract, if BURI is not able to run a minimum of 18 trains a day, it will be penalized. And it is able to meet this, contrary to some reports which are saying otherwise.

Setting the key performance index is understandable. The trams which had been converted or reconfigured to trains had problems, notably design flaws. The Prague firm that manufactured the trams no longer manufacture spare parts. And worse, the trams run on even surface, not ups and downs, while the rail tracks are very old so that they it can only allow the trams to run at 40 kilometers per hour.

There is rational why BURI, a government-owned firm, was awarded the maintenance contract. Because it is into railways, it can fabricate parts which are needed to make the MRT 3 trams work.

But the maintenance contract is not about spare parts. It is about the number of trams or trains that must be running on a day to day basis.

There are accusations that BURI has been sabotaging MRT 3 by installing fake train parts and shabby work by one congressman. Meanwhile, BURI has filed graft charges against DOTr Undersecretary for rails Cesar Chavez, claiming the latter has injured the company for withholding payment of its collectibles and in threatening to terminate its P3.8-billion three-year contract.

We have to admit, MRT 3 trains still break down occasionally. But ever since Garcia took over, MRT’s performance has improved and the average monthly incidences of breakdown of trains has gone down.

Those using old vehicles or even old appliances and equipment know that one can only do so much in terms of keeping them working or running. BURI has been doing the best that it can in terms of making the spare parts available since the company that manufactured the MRT 3 trains no longer does. BURI has been able to make the trains run and even exceed its commitments under the contract. But the trains and the tracks are old. Unless we are willing and able to replace the entire the new system with a new one, then we have to make do with what we have. Even the best maintenance provider cannot do miracles with our trains at this point.

For comments, e-mail at mareyes@philstarmedia.com