Brothers and sisters, are you one of those who experience the calvary of public transportation everyday?
Surely it is a predicament for a commuter to line up exhaustingly just to get a ride at the Metro Rail Transit, Light Rail Transit, UV Express or jeeps. Bus and train passengers have lost their sense of personal space because of overcrowding. Along Edsa, you can see irritated people waiting for their ride, people who seem to be unshaken by the heat and thick smoke from passing vehicles. After waiting for a long time and competing with other passengers to get a ride, commuters bear the slow and heavy flow of traffic. According to a study, it commonly takes Filipinos an hour and six minutes to squeeze through the roads because of the traffic.
Such a scenario got worse after the suspension of the regular operations of the Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 2 or LRT 2 because its two power rectifiers got burned almost two weeks ago, affecting almost 200,000 passengers.
Although this is not how it is supposed to be, this is the current reality of everyday commuting in Metro Manila. Many commuters ask if it is righteous for Filipinos to endure this kind of situation. The people were even more angered after Malacañang Spokesman Salvador Panelo insisted that there is no transportation crisis because “people are still able to catch a ride and eventually get to their destinations.”
Panelo does not bear a sociological imagination because he doesn’t understand the everyday struggles that thousands of commuters experience every day. People with this kind of imagination understand the greater context rooted on personal issues, such as the suffering of commuters because of poor public transportation. Therefore, it is not acceptable to suggest that commuters should wake up early to be able to get to their destinations on time because this deviates from the issue of government neglect. It is the State’s responsibility to provide an efficient mass transportation system for the people.
As things stand, the loss of time that should be spent with family, or rest and relaxation is tantamount to a personal and private crisis. There’s no justice served, for example, when a student has to wake up at 4 a.m. but is still arrive late in school. If we broaden our imagination, this is directly related to the country’s lack of efficient public transportation, which is a social issue. This is why many were dismayed by Penalo’s statement because it reflects the government’s lack of compassion for the suffering commuters.
From the Catholic Social teaching, one of the State’s responsibilities include the achievement of the common good because this is the reason why the government has all the power in the first place. An individual would not be able to attain one’s development alone, wherein the role of the State takes place to ensuring an efficient use of the social services the public desperately needs. Which is why the insensitive statement of the President’s spokesman got criticized because, like what is said in the book of Proverbs, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”
Brothers and sisters, even if the repairs
being done on the LRT 2 get finished in nine months, as long as our leaders
don’t make a comprehensive solution, and those who manage the transportation
sector don’t take the necessary action, the problem caused by the inefficient
public transportation system will remain for a long time to torture more
Filipino commuters.
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