MANILA, Philippines — It isn’t like any Metro Manila commuter needs another reminder of how wretched the public transportation system is.
But then it isn’t also every day that a lawmaker who actually commutes to work, like Muntinlupa City Representative Rozzano Rufino “Ruffy” Biazon, finds himself among the hundreds of passengers unloaded from a train of the MRT-3 after one of its frequent breakdowns.
Biazon, who said he takes the train to get to the House of Representatives whenever traffic is heavy on EDSA — he alights at the Quezon Avenue station then takes a cab to the Batasan complex — took videos of his misadventure Tuesday morning after they were offloaded at Shaw Boulevard due to a “technical problem.”
Around 9 a.m., he posted a video on Facebook and Twitter of a hand clutching an overhead strap as vehicles are seen overtaking the train through the window.
His caption: “‘Yung feeling ng nakasakay ka sa MRT pero lahat ng sasakyan umo-overtake sa inyo (The feeling when you’re on the train but all the vehicles are overtaking you) ….”
Minutes later, he posted another video, this time at the train station with a thick crowd lined up in front of the doors of the stalled train.
We got offloaded at Shaw boulevard station, with the train declared "for removal". pic.twitter.com/bwjv46pzzd
— Ruffy Biazon (@ruffybiazon) October 10, 2017
“We got offloaded at Shaw boulevard station, with the train declared ‘for removal’,” Biazon, who boarded the train at Magallanes station, wrote.
He then posted another photo of the crowd, this time waiting for a new train to arrive.
With offloaded passengers and new ones coming in, it's gonna be a tight fight in the train. pic.twitter.com/r1Ml8gl2S8
— Ruffy Biazon (@ruffybiazon) October 10, 2017
“This was the first time I experienced the train break down … Ito iyong nararanasan ng kababayan natin madalas, sana masolusyunan na (This is what our people experience often, hopefully a solution can be found),” he said.
Nevertheless, he said he continues to find the train convenient, “that’s why our call is to fix it. We are calling on the DOTr (Department of Trensportation) to fast-track the solution. If the problem is the maintenance contractors, then they have to proceed as fast as they can to replace it.” (with Lira Fernandez, InterAksyon)
