There is no reason for the public to thank the country’s oligarchy for chopping up the country’s light rail system that is causing them much suffering and inconvenience. The decision to build a “Grand Central Station” is not meant to ease the clogging of commuters who are forced to transfer to another rail way transit, but is meant to maximize their profit. Passengers will continue to be “transhipped” and undergo the same agonizing gauntlet of being crammed with the rest of the proletariats like chattels to reach their workplace.
The Memorandum of Agreement was signed by SM Prime Holdings, Inc., Universal LRT Corp. unit of San Miguel Corp., Light Rail Manila Corp. and North Triangle Development Commercial Corp as well as the Department of Transportation, Department of Public Works and Highways and the Light Rail Transit Authority. It envisions to link the LRT-1, MRT-3 and the future MRT-7 to a common station that will have three components: Area A where the platform and concourse for LRT-1 and MRT-3 will be located; Area B which will consist of two common concourses connecting Area A and C; and Area C, the platform concourse of MRT-7.
Looking at it, the common plan is merely an attempt to whitewash the corruption that marred the early stages in the privatization of the industry. Whether our light rail system would be operated as a state-owned corporation or would be privatized is immaterial. One thing sure, when the Ramos administration decided to privatize it, he firmly subscribed that only the private sector can deliver the goods; that it can be run more efficiently and cheaper, and that the government would be able to collect more revenues. None of his hoot happened.
Ramos began by extending the railway line as planned, but handed over that portion to the private operator. The privatized light rail transit called MRT 3 made its maiden run from Baclaran, Paranaque to Monumento, Caloocan via Edsa. It was supposed to complete the loop that began by the construction of LRT-1 starting in Baclaran to Monumento via Taft Avenue. There was no competition, for in fact it broke the monopoly by sharing a portion of the railway to the private operator, accomplished after much lobbying and behind the scene haggling. The second phase came about by the awarding of MRT 3, an entire railway line from Santolan, Marikina to Abad Santos, Manila.
Part of the condition demanded by the private operators was to have the industry chopped to several portions for them to meet the capital requirement. That came about after the yellow government allocated the proposed extended railway line to other bidders. That means the extended portion will build its own terminal station to collect fare from passengers who are mostly transferees and bound towards the same destination.
To make matter worse, the private operators sought to hire different builders/contractors and expectedly submitted different standards and specifications for rail tracks, coaches and operating system, thus making it difficult for the government, particularly for the Light Rail Transit Authority, to integrate them in the future for the purpose of reducing fare and in providing the general public one central station in the metropolis. To connect them altogether would now be impractical. It would practically require the dismantling of the entire railway system.
One need not be an engineer to see the havoc done to the original plan of the Marcos administration for our light rail transit system. One could see the greed behind the scheme to chop the railway lines to accommodate the competing greedy oligarchy. People ask why the railway line at Edsa was detached from the railway line connecting it to Taft Avenue. In fact, both the LRT and the MRT are using the same overhead railway structure. The same is repeated at the LRT station at Roosevelt. MRT discontinued its rail line going to Monumento thereby compelling commuters to transfer. They are forced to walk or take a short ride from Roosevelt to Trinoma and vice versa, thereby causing a bottleneck in the area because buses and jeepneys clog to pick up passengers from both terminals.
The same can be said about the traversing route for LRT 2. Instead of constructing terminals close to the terminal of LRT 1 and MRT 3 in those crossing points at Edsa, Cubao and Rizal Avenue in Manila for passengers to just cross and transfer to another train, they are forced to walk causing traffic in the vicinity. Interestingly, the Edsa railway line between the intersection of McKinley and Pasay Road is the only portion where our light rail tracks have been placed underground. According to the late columnist Luis “Louie” Beltran, the country’s premier subdivisions which are all located in the area do not want to be disturbed by the noise caused by crossing trains.
To make sure commuters will pass through either of the two competing malls at Edsa, each wanted to have the proposed Grand Central Station located to a place most convenient to the commuting customers. The Memorandum of Agreement did not concern itself with the interest of the commuters. Moreover, before the abominable B.S. Aquino administration faded away for good, he sold the original government-owned light rail transit built by the Marcos administration to a tycoon who is fond of naming streets in his palatial enclaves after Spanish conquistadores who oppressed and butchered Filipino natives during the colonization period. The sale to Ayala Corp. of LRT 2 and MRT 3 reinforced its position in the entire North Edsa area which was once reserved as the future site for government offices.
Finally, the so-called Grand Central Station will not solve the problem of the commuters: that they will no longer be transferring to another train or walk to another terminal and queue just to buy another ticket; or that it would help save them time to reach their destination at reduced fares. Rather, it only assured the stakeholders that each will have his share of the pie that generates an assured profit of P1.8 to P2.5 billion annually.