MRT Senate hearing to resume on Monday

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Grace Poe on Sunday announced that the Senate inquiry on the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) will resume on Monday.

Poe said transportation officials are expected to appear before the Senate Sub-Committee on Public Services. She invited the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), MRT, Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), Metro Pacific Investment Corp., and the Center for Commuters to attend the hearing.

Poe initially scheduled the MRT hearing on November 4 but DOTC SecretaryJoseph Emilio Abaya declined the Senate’s invitation, due to a scheduled trip to Malaysia. Abaya held a press conference on the bullet planting or “tanim-bala” scam in airports the same morning.

Poe said she wanted to discuss frequent accidents on the tracks and increasing incidents of train malfunctions as several MRT coaches and tracks have broken down due to deterioration.

An estimated 650,000 passengers ride the MRT daily, taking almost twice its capacity of 350,000.

”This is one of the issues that I’m focusing on because our economy is affected if our mass transport system will not be improved,” Poe said.

The Senator is questioning the MRT contracts entered by the government since these employed and sustained the services of companies that “do not have the capability to maintain the metro’s railways”.

She added that the current maintenance provider could not even fix the toilets and other facilities in the train stations.

The Senate conducted its last hearing on the MRT on February while Poe inspected the prototype trains delivered from Dalian Chine on September.

Poe said the prototype trains could not yet be checked and tested as the coachers did not come with engines, which would be purchased from Germany. The country’s tracks were also not compatible with the new engines for a test run.

The senator also mentioned MRT and transportation in the country as one of her agenda if elected as president during her presidential bid announcement last September 16.