MANILA - The MRT Line 3 twice suffered breakdowns Thursday, as it did on Wednesday, spurring netizens to bring out an old video clip of President Benigno Aquino III's speech in 2013 where he said that if the promised improvements in the commuter train system are not fulfilled by 2015, he and Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya will probably have themselves "run over by a train."
The clip uploaded on YouTube has gone viralas netizens ranted against the seemingly endless problems of the MRT 3, which has steadily encountered problems the past two years: fewer trains, longer turnarounds, slower speeds, and glitches from doors that fail to open to smoke emissions inside to sudden power loss, forcing thousands to either be stranded inside or have to walk out of the trains at the most uncomfortable areas.
On Thursday, a train stopped near the Santola station after an apparent lack of power supply. Mercifully, the problem was fixed quickly.
But past 8 a.m, another train had to stop running altogether near the Cubao station because of a door problem.
Incensed after having had to stay on the streets under the rain for hours just the day before (Wednesday) - when Habagat-induced rains caused traffic jams while the MRTC broke down twice - netizens uploaded the video of President Aquino addressing a group in Cavite in 2013. He was boasting about the LRT-1 Cavite Extension that, when completed in 2015, would result not just in faster trains but in an additional 250,000 people taking commuter trains.
"At kapag hindi po nangyari ito, nandiyan naman si Secretary Abaya, na mangangasiwa nito, dalawa na kami na siguro ay magpapasagasa sa tren [And if that happens, here's Secretary Abaya who's in charge of the project; he and I will probably have ourselves run over by a train]."