Palanca poet writes furious letter to 'MRT bulok'

MANILA, Philippines — A Palanca-award winning poet composed a furious letter replete with expletives after he perceived his complaints being deleted from the Metro Rail Transport system's Facebook page.

In the letter posted on his own Facebook timeline, Angelo Suarez recounted three grueling hours spent trying to get in one of the MRT coaches and ended up taking a taxicab with an overcharged fare of P250.

"Good morning greetings kayo d'yan sa FB page ninyo kung saan hindi na ako allowed mag-comment! Kanina diretso kong pino-post ang mensaheng ito d'yan–ngayon wala na ang mga post ko!" Suarez said.

"Mga walang hiya kayo, mga walang silbi, mga pahirap, mga ulupong!" he added.

Related: Pinoys on bullet train plan: Improve MRT, LRT first

He said he queued for an hour at the MRT station along Ayala Avenue, Makati City due to the high volume of waiting passengers and the delay in the train arrivals.

Suarez enumerated his complaints in the semi-privatized train system, including the lack of transparency in announcing "slight delays" when no more trains could be expected.

"Ni wala man lang sa inyong may sapat na galang o kokote para sabihan ang mga kawawang commuter pauwi kagabi–lahat pagod mulang trabaho–na wala na silang aasahang tren," he wrote.

"Halatang-halatang wala kayong malasakit sa mga pasahero ninyong araw-araw ninyong pineperahan at pinapahirapan ... Magtrabaho kayong maayos!" Suarez continued.

He said he waited alongside scores of commuters for the next train starting 8:30 p.m. and left when no train arrived, complaining that he still had to queue anew on his way out the station.

Suarez then attempted to take public buses along EDSA but not a single one had seats left for more passengers.

Many picky taxicab drivers, meanwhile, refused to let him ride until one agreed to bring him home.

"Nagbayad nang halos P250 para sa isang biyaheng dapat ay wala pang 20 pesos dahil sa *********** inefficiency ninyong mga *********** abusado kayo," Suarez said.

He finally arrived home at 11:00 p.m. and urged fellow angry commuters to complain on their own Facebook accounts using the hashtag #MRTbulok.

Suarez won the Palanca Award for Literature's second prize for his poetry collection “Exploratoria” in 2003, and third prize for “Else It Was Purely Girls” in 2004. - Camille Diola