TRANSPORTATION Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said Sunday that President Benigno Aquino III’s boast that he and Abaya would let themselves be run over by a train if they failed to extend the LRT line to Cavite by 2015 was simply “an expression of eagerness.”
Interviewed on radio dzBB, Abaya echoed Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma, who said the President’s promise “should not be taken literally.”
Instead, he said, the vow made more than two years ago just showed his eagerness to pursue and complete the project.
Abaya added that he had just been appointed to the Cabinet when Aquino issued the statement during a campaign sortie for his senatorial slate in April 2013.
“At that time, they were in the very early stages of PPP [public private partnership] procurement. Unfortunately, there were two failed biddings. I’m sure the President did not plan for the failed biddings. Nor did we plan them,” Abaya said in Filipino.
“The statement showed an eagerness to explain that we wanted this done, but of course, the unpredictability of the procurement law is a fact of life,” Abaya added.
A month before the 2013 midterm polls, Aquino said that he and Abaya would be willing to be run over by a train if the LRT-1 extension project to Cavite was not completed by the end of 2015.
“By 2015, not only will we speed up travel from Baclaran to Bacoor, but we will also be able to accommodate 250,000 more passengers because of the LRT Line 1 extension,” Aquino said in Filipino at the time.
“And if that does not happen, Secretary Abaya who is in charge of this project and I will be willing to be run over by a train,” he continued.
Abaya said the Light Rail Manila Corp. is set to begin work on the P64.9-billion project in the first half of 2016.
LRMC will manage the LRT-1 for 32 years, during which it will also extend the line by 11.7 kilometers to 32.4 km from the current 20.7 km.
As the year wound down toward the President’s self-imposed deadline, Coloma said Aquino’s statement should not be taken literally.
“The President was speaking with a sense of urgency when he announced his desire to see the project within two years,” Coloma said. “Any reasonable person would understand this to have been an aspirational statement. Despite the delays, the government continues to pursue the project.”