I am not sure I like the Palace statement. In response to criticisms from the commuter public as to their daily travails while on our trains, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda quipped back that they have never promised us a rose garden.
Instead, the argument goes, we have been promised that this administration will walk a straight and narrow path, rooting out corruption, so that the funds of the government are directed towards the real beneficiaries, meaning us, and not the pockets of government officials.
That's all good and sensible, but when the beneficiaries are already clamoring for the benefits, it doesn't seem apt to keep harping that the cabinet is still pursuing corruption. It's halfway through the term of the President, and surely, other aspects of governing must be paid attention to. I mean, you can't say, to complaints about peace and order, separatist rebels, and kidnappings, that the government is still addressing corruption and will focus on law enforcement later.
Same thing here. The citizens are suffering. There are long lines to get to the railway system. There's hardly any air-conditioning. The rides are interminable, as there are prolonged stops at stations. Plus, when one tries to exit, the turnstiles aren't working. Of course people will complain. Instead of their legitimate beef getting addressed (and resolved), what they get is an insensitive response: sorry, but we are not here to give you a rose garden.
Rose garden? Who the heck is asking for roses? Or a garden, any kind of garden, for that matter?
All that the people are asking for is a basic necessity. Transportation, a crucial tool so they can get to their jobs and be productive. They just need to get to work on time, and maybe decently dry and not sopping wet with sweat and smelling of other people's essences. Is this some kind of luxury the government cannot dole out to every Pedro and Juan?
Public transportation isn't a private jet with plush leather seats and decantered wine that sadly, the government cannot pay attention to. On the contrary, this is the way that the public can earn their wages and bring food to the table, instead of becoming public charges and a further drain on government resources. Them showing up at their jobs mean less inefficiencies, and business can be done, and industries can become more competitive. So focusing on this problem and trying to fix it is not exactly pandering to the foibles of a few.
All in all, the government isn't really looking out only for the comfort of its citizens when it fixes the train system. It's fixing the economy, nudging unquantifiable (or maybe they are) forces towards the right direction, adding to the multiplier effect, adding to growth instead of hampering it.
Spokesperson Lacierda also says that the problems that President Aquino inherited from the previous administration are gargantuan. Which is true, but doesn't exactly excuse the viewpoint that solving mass transportation woes is pandering to just the public's desire for creature comforts. Out of the many problems faced by the Department of Transportation and Communication, wouldn't this be top of the list, so that after more than three years on the job, a plan should have been way past approval stage and deep into implementation stage?
Well, doesn't seem like it, especially if we pay close attention to his other statements. Lacierda also says, after some more details on how there is supposedly a short term and long term vision from our officials at the DOTC, and how keeping to the straight and narrow path slows the process down (which I take to mean the crooks are finding it more difficult to extract their usual bribes and kickbacks, and are thinking of more creative ways of getting moolah, or maybe even delaying bids in the hope of outlasting this administration), that "hopefully we can find someone who will continue to tread the straight path beyond 2016."
Gasp of horror. What is he trying to say? That the problems won't be solved by this administration and they are bequeathing this mess to the next President? I hope not. If they have time to award airport projects and bid out expressways, they surely have time to buy more coaches and award contracts for maintenance.
As lawyers from the University of the Philippines are wont to posting on their facebook accounts (and there's more than a handful of them) the quickest solution might be to require public officials to take the MRT to and from work.
Then, we might see them coming out smelling like roses.