MRT and the violence of

our mass transport

system
One can tell how a countrys rulers treat its people just by looking at the trains they build for
them.

Herbert Docena
Published 7:23 AM, Apr 14, 2014
Updated 8:13 AM, Apr 14, 2014

In 1789, as hundreds of thousands starved in France because of a bread shortage, Marie

Antoinette, King Louis XVIs consort, supposedly said: "They have no bread? Let them eat
cake."
Last week, as hundreds of thousand Filipino commuters went through the daily ordeal of falling
in line for up to an hour to ride the MRT because buses are more expensive, slower, and often as
jampacked, the Presidents spokesperson said something like: "They cant ride the trains? Let
them discover other options, like the bus, or something." That the Presidents alter ego, a
seasoned spin doctor whose job is precisely to gauge the public mood, really seemed to have no
idea of just how out of line he was tells us a lot about why our public transport system is so
pardon my Frenchf*cked up.
Like the French aristocracy, the powdered, chauffeured ruling classes who run and operate our
trains and our country seem to be more out of touch than ever.

The MRT as class violence

Indeed, perhaps nothing more visibly illustrates how insensitive our ruling elites have become
towards the public these days than those incredibly long lines snaking out from MRT stations: a
direct consequence of our elites reluctance to invest in additional trains that could serve millions
while railroading projects that allow a few thousand of them to fly from their gated little
enclaves in Alabang or Nasugbu up to their gated little enclaves in Makati or Quezon City.
(WATCH: MRT North Avenue station: Get Lucky by Daft Punk)
One can tell how a countrys rulers treat its people just by looking at the mass transport systems
they build for them.
Our elites lack of compassion, let alone respect, shows in those ridiculously narrow passages
under the Guadalupe, Ortigas, or Kamuning stations that force hundreds of people to walk
sideways just inches away from rampaging buses; in all the escalators and elevators that rarely
ever work, endangering the pregnant, and shutting out the handicapped and the elderly; in the
severely-cramped coaches that expose women to sexual harassment every day.
Their disdain reveals itself in all the ways by which they have made commuting to work a daily
struggle for basic dignity.
Perhaps nothing more clearly exemplifies their cold indifference and crass opportunism than the
kind of connection they built between the Cubao MRT and LRT stationsor that they have so
far still failed to build between the Roosevelt LRT station and the North EDSA MRT station:
Instead of connecting these stations so as to minimize walking, they have instead forced tens of
thousands of connecting passengers with no other choice but to march like a captive herd
through Gateway or SM North and Trinoma.
A daily Calvary for workers, but a wonderful bonanza for the mall-owners.
All this forces us to ask: Is this really just insensitivity? Doesnt forcing peoplealready
exhausted from being jolted out of bed early, working all day, and jostling for space inside the
MRTto walk another unnecessary kilometer cause unnecessary pain? Isnt being exposed to
the scorching sun for over an hour in Manilas heat and humidity a form of cruel and unusual
punishment? Doesnt all the stress and anguish from having to go through this life-draining
ordeal daily constitute a form of avoidable suffering?
In short: doesnt all this constitute mass violenceviolence so routinized we dont even think of
it as violence?
Subsidizing our chaufferred classes

Some might say these are all just engineering or management issues that couldnt be blamed
on our ruling classes as a whole. But if our ruling elites cant even be bothered with such issues
if they cant find the time to review the blueprints and check whether our lolas wont be
trampled on in platform, whether our kids wont be run over by busesthen what does that say
about what they think of us?
Having largely monopolized power over our resources and how to spend them, our chauffeured
classes cant escape collective responsibility because decisions involving public transportfrom
how much to spend for trains vis--vis skyways to where to put stations or how wide walkways
should berequire not only the approval of government officials and their private contractors,
but also the tacit backing all other elites who could potentially object to them.
And to date, there seems no indication whatsoever that our otherwise fractious elitesnormally
split on so many other issuesare bitterly divided over the over-funding of projects that
disproportionately favor them. Nor do theyor the parties, NGOs, and intellectuals they
patronizeseem particularly troubled by the massive under-funding of public transport.
And why should they? Public transport is actually an indispensable but overlooked part of the
production process (since without getting workers to their factories/offices there would be no
goods/services and therefore no profits), and the more that its financial, psychological and other
costs are borne by our commuting classes, the more that our elites are effectively being
subsidized by them.
Remember that every peso that capitalists dont spend on getting their workers to their factories
because they could rely on the MRT is an additional peso they could take home as profits.
Besides, since they dont pay workers for every additional hour they spend going to work
anywayeven if, from the point of view of the worker, each additional hour spent on
commuting is in fact an unpaid part of their total working daycapitalists couldnt care less
about whether workers spend one, two, or five hours traveling to/from the factory for so long as
said workers show up and render the total number of hours of work they are paid for in wages.
Consider that every hour that workers cant spend for themselves or their children because they
are stuck in line for the MRT is an additional hour that is effectively spent working since
getting to work is arguably just as much a part of working as being at work.
Few of our chauffeurred classes understand all this, however, becausecosseted in their heavilyarmed mini-Republics of Forbes, Wack-Wack, Serendra, etc.many if not most of them mostly
see the MRT not as an integral part of their world but as a foreign country: an exotic place where
they can pose for selfies like tourists, with members of an exotic tribe smiling in the
background.

INEFFICIENT, MISMANAGED. The Riles Network wants MRT 3 general manager Al Vitangcol to resign for failing to ease
and prevent long lines at MRT 3 stations. File photo by Leanne Jazul/Rappler

Building collective power out of diffuse anger

But if our elites seem not to care, it is not because they are genetically incapable of empathy. It is
only because they are forcedby market or electoral competition in a patronage-driven capitalist
societyto care about other things: the maximization of their profits, rents, or tongpats.
And they have managed to get away with caring more for these other things only becauseso
far at leastno countervailing group has forced them to change their priorities.
After all, the livability of cities has rarely ever been granted as a gift by a countrys
enlightened elites. If the metro system and urban infrastructure of Paris, London, San
Francisco, and other cities are more humane today, for example, it is only because their
commuting classes organized and fought for them against the bitter opposition of their own
chaufferred classes.
Angry at their terrible living conditions and the unresponsiveness of their elites, they engaged in
concerted civil disobedience, campaigns, strikes, protests, and other forms of direct action as part
of broader collective struggles to improve their well-being. Though initially diffuse, their
scattered anger and inchoate aspirations were fused typically by labor groups and socialist parties
into a broader social movement that ultimately won them not only more humane subways, but
even the right to vote and the right to take two days off at the end of the working week.
And they won, at least in part, because their own chaufferred classes were spooked by the
memory of what the hungry French did to their callous aristocracy in 1789.

The lessons of Marie Antoinette

One can tell how scared a countrys rulers are of its people just by looking at the quality of the
trains they build for them. For it is here, in such mundane things as the architecture of our public
infrastructure, that the balance of forces among different social groups of a society are recorded
and cemented.
Today, the sorry state of our public transport system reflects the fact that, given the present
balance of forces, our chauffeurred classes can still act with such callousness and get away with
it.
Such a system wont be fixed unless our chaufferred classes are compelled to care, and they will
not be compelled to care unless all this pent-up rage now welling up inside every grim-faced
commuter forced to suffer quietly and in isolation in the MRT every day is gathered together and
formed into a new social force: a broad social movement capable of advancing a concrete
alternative project for a different kind of public transport system, a different kind of city, a
different kind of development.
For now, much of the anger that could fuel such a movement remains diffuse and easily
dissipated precisely because it is dispersed.
But, as indicated by how people responded to the governments Marie-Antoinette-like
provocation, even that may already be changing. Heeding the governments injunctions, many
netizens promptly discovered other options for moving around the city apart from through the
MRT. Their discoveries? Batmobiles, Star Trek transporters, magic carpetsor flying on the
wings of love
Perhaps thats also how the French started out in the 1780s: by laughing at their collective misery
and mocking their exploitative aristocrats. But, as we know from what happened to Marie
Antoinette and the aristocracy, the French didnt stop at joking around. -Rappler.com
Herbert Docena is a PhD candidate in Sociology who sometimes carjacks his fathers sedan but
would really rather take the train.
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Filed under:Philippine trainsmass transportpublic transportpublic transport in the
PhilippinestrainsMRT

56 Comments
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Bige
121 days ago
I ride the train EVERY SINGLE DAY. Yes, I agree that there should be more trains. Yes, I agree that the service can
be better. Yes, I agree that the trains and the tracks and the stations should undergo renovations as well. Who does
not want a better train commute experience?
I also accept the fact that while I want to enjoy everything I have mentioned above, I will also need to pay a fare that
is commensurate to a good train commute experience. If there is a need to raise prices to improve the service, I say
BRING IT ON. As a citizen, we just can't complain high hell and water without making a contribution to help solve the
matter. I'm willing to pay a higher fare, because I recognize the value of taking the train, and not having to deal with
the traffic taking the bus or the jeep. That is the premium that I am willing to pay for.
Sa Pilipinas lang ako nakakita na kung tutuusin mas mura pa ang mag train versus bus. Taft to North Avenue Station
is only what, 15 pesos. Magkano sa aircon bus? Obviously, X times more expensive. Saan ka sasakay? E di sa train,
kahit siksikan, you can arrive in 40 mins or so. Sa bus, mas mahal na, aabutin ka pa ng siyam-siyam sa traffic. A
person with a good business sense, heck common sense would know that something is wrong with this scenario. If
you are going to have the convenience of not having to deal with the traffic, you have to pay MORE vs. if you take the
bus and deal with the traffic.

So, some people may say na transportation should be open to everyone, walang discrimination, the truth of the
matter is that: not everyone can afford everything. I can't afford a car, which is why I commute. The reality is: some
commuters should be able to afford the bus, and it's a reality that some would not be able to afford to take the train.
Yun lang yun.
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10 replies
+14

Melvin Vivas
120 days ago
Best comment! I was really waiting for someone who really ride the MRT to speak up! Kudos bro for just doing that! :)

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+2

Voltaire Garcia
120 days ago
Dont forget the MRT is under the PP corporation, meaning, part of it is state-owned. Having said that, a portion or a
huge amount of the cost should be shouldered by the government, thereby decreasing the fare.
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5 replies
0

Bige
119 days ago
In an ideal world, yes, a lower price would be nice to have. However, this will just give the powers-that-be in the MRT
further excuse for providing bad service and all those issues. It will be easier for them to say that : Eh kasi mura ang
pamasahe, kaya ganyan. Walang pondo sa etc etc.
I say chicken and the egg because I know it's also the same if you increase the fare. How would we know then that
the funds for the increased fare is allocated and used accordingly.

In an ideal world, I wish we can tie up all these corrupt politicians on the railroad tracks and have them run over by
the trains.
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2 replies
+3

Daves
119 days ago
Now that's an (evil) idea: let's have that done in exchange for higher MRT fares. He he.
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0

Renren Gabs
118 days ago
We don't know the future. But I say we raise train fares, and kick out that GM if he continues to perform poorly.
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0

Renren Gabs
118 days ago
As a corporation, running the trains must at least be break even. Lalo na at GOCC yan na may mandate na magbigay
serbisyo araw-araw.

Sa ngayon, napakamura po ng train natin. As commuters, we need to contribute to increase the level of service. Di
pwede reklamo tayo ng reklamo tapos gusto pa natin libre. We have to do our part.
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0

Pepe Republika
116 days ago
It should cease to be subsidized, especially to be fair to our fellow taxpayers who do not use it at all, i.e., Filipinos in
Davao, Cebu, Benguet, etc., who do not come to Manila. Let their local gov'ts keep their tax monies to make their
own MRTs and other such public transportation systems. Furthermore, enough of the subsidies - it only gets us into
more trouble in the future, (1) it's not going to be efficient, (2) prone to corruption (tongpats, rigged biddings and

procurement), (3) there's the 'Third-Party Payer' problem - no incentive to maintain it well, (4) it's going to jack up
costs of other related private market goods and services, all for what? (5) Mediocre services at best. Then we go to
the streets, go rah-rah, and blame gov't for a job we entrusted them but are actually incapable of doing well, in the
first place. Please. We've done that before, we must never be forgetful anymore. It has failed, and the effects of which
we are still paying for today, i.e., NaPoCOr in our current Meralco Bills.
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0

Juan Cruz
71 days ago
the point is to petition the rulers/government to make life better for everyone, to lift all boats all at the same time. by
your formula for each of us to just "do our share," those at the bottom will suffer even more because they have
NOTHING LEFT to share.

you talk from a privileged position as a middle class observer. try to put yourself in the shoes of others.
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+1

Jun Jose
71 days ago
Huh??? ano bang pinagsasabi mong not everyone can afford anything? The MRT is a mass transportation system. It
is constructed for the purpose of moving the masses from point A to point B efficiently yet without the people having
to pay more. Bakit parang isang pribilehiyo na ang pagsakay dito? So yung mga "can't afford" maglakad na lang?
Wow.
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0

Kebs Hapal
71 days ago
Well said. :)
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0

Cielo Roldan
121 days ago

Thank you for writing this article. This is what we should be talking about in social networks, newspaper, radio, and tv.
Instead of the tele novela marathons and showbiz gossip designed to keep the masses uninformed but entertained
so the ruling elite can keep their status quo.
There are a number of factors that affect the efficiency of a transport system like population. And it doesn't help that
our population growing exponentially. BUT I totally agree with you! Our politicians are mostly part of the ruling elite
and if not largely influenced by them. It also doesn't help that corruption is occurring left, right, and centre. The
Philippines receives significant monetary assistance through foreign aid that is meant to improve the infrastructure in
the country. Most of this however are directed to projects to serve the politicians' self interests while at the same time
inflating the figures spent for the project so they get 'kick back' and/or delivering poor quality infrastructure.
We need our middle class to be active in social policies and government decision making and in the communities. We
need our middle class to influence our decision makers, to make policies that will benefit the majority of our
countrymen, to monitor what laws and policies are being passed and implemented, to monitor where the fiscal
budget is being spent, to demand for better quality news that will educate the masses, to be sensitive to the plight of
the poor, and yes! To demand for better infrastructure.
For things to change, we need our middle class to be involved. We need our middle class to shake the status quo of
the ruling elite.... Just ask the French.

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+6

Dale Gozar
120 days ago
If the city decides to buy cars, buycars, buy cars and buy more cars a day will come when nothing will
move.Should planners allow that to happen? - Delhi High Court on BRT Case (2012)
"Parking is not a constitutional Right, it is a commodity and one has to pay the price according to its usage"
"Number of people transported is more important than number of vehicle transported" - National Transportation
Policy, 2005, India
"A Developed Country is not a place where poor have cars. It's where the rich use Public Transportation" Enrique
Pealosa, Mayor of Bagota, Colombia
Each million we invest into urban motorways is an investmentto destroy the city - Mayor Hans Joachim Vogel,
Munich (1970)
If were going to talk about transport, I would say that the great city is not the one that has highways, but one where
a child on a tricycle or bicycle can go safely everywhere" - Enrique Pealosa, Mayor of Bagota, Colombia
"One symbol of lack of democracy is to have cars parked on the sidewalk" - Enrique Pealosa, Mayor of Bagota,
Colombia

"A bikeway is a symbol that shows that a citizen on a $30 bicycle is equally important as a citizen on a $30,000 car." Enrique Pealosa, Mayor of Bagota, Colombia

"We are paving the planet to serve a small portion of the population. And in the process, we are reducing the quality
of life for the rest of the population. This is an environmental justice issue" - Spenser Havlick, Professor of
Environmental Design, College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
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+5

Jerky San Pedro

121 days ago
As we all know, Marie Antoinette did not say that.
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1 reply
+5

Pepe Republika
120 days ago
And that's not what it actually meant hehe :p
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+3

john jacinto
121 days ago
That the toiling masses who ride the light railway system still do not rise in revolt against the ruling elite is proof of the
enduring patience and forgiving character of the Filipino. Thanks for our "Christian" legacy, we can take all this
violence in stride.
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+3

Pepe Torres
120 days ago
Sorry, this article is a load of lazy and uninformed armchair Marxist philosophical crap. "If only the wealthy capitalists
cared enough to invest in reliable mass transportation." I don't think the writer truly understands how things work. The
key to a successful train system is good governance, not altruistic capitalists, because the best ones are either stateowned (such as San Francisco's which is an example the author sites) or state-subsidized but run by publicly traded

corporations (which is the case in Singapore and is my own favorite example). So either the government runs it well
or they work well enough with private train operators such that the latter make a healthy profit.
Trust me, legitimate business forces like the Ayalas would invest if there was a good business to be done and healthy
profits to be made but they don't because the corruption involved is horrific and they do their best to steer clear from it
in their businesses as much as possible. So we're left with either poorly managed state-owned operators or crony-run
"private" enterprises. The problem, as is often the case for other fundamental public needs in the Philippines, is
corruption.

For what it's worth (because it seems to affect the legitimacy of one's comments) this is coming from someone who
used to commute regularly from high school to university (I used to take FX-MRT-Bus-Tricycle to get from
my home in Antipolo to my girlfriend's in Bicutan) and experienced excellent public transportation working over five
years in Singapore before coming back to Manila last year.
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1 reply
+2

Juan Cruz
71 days ago
that's because you obviously don't know what you're talking about. Marxist theory precisely states that your so-called
"government" is an instrument of Class rule, i.e., an executive committee for managing the day to day affairs of the
ruling class.
Docena said it himself: "Having largely monopolized power over our resources and how to spend them, our
chauffeured classes cant escape collective responsibility because decisions involving public transportfrom how
much to spend for trains vis--vis skyways to where to put stations or how wide walkways should berequire not
only the approval of government officials and their private contractors, but also the tacit backing all other elites who
could potentially object to them."

now, after this, will you promise me you'll READ first before you comment from now on?
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0

Dale Gozar
120 days ago
"Number of people transported is more important than number of vehicle transported" - National Transportation
Policy, 2005, India
I hope our Government would invest more on mass transport system (more trains or MRT), Instead of ongoing Road
projects which will only benefits the Car manufacturers and Arabs/oil producers due to our dependency on fossil fuel.

Proposed Road Sharing (for bike lane & covered walkways) scheme is also not advisable due to our wet (heavy rain)
& dry(very hot) weather and worsening pollution problem.
More train will eventually reduce vehicles, pollution, accidents and promote safer & better (convenient/cleaner) future
for all. Example, by adding 1 or 2 rails for Express trains (limited stops) on existing LRT & MRT will greatly solve our
transport problem

https://m.facebook.com/notes/navdeep-asija/famous-quotes-on-sustainable-transportation/10152125174345434
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+2

Tabalumu
120 days ago
The writer did a good work in writing this article.
Aside from the public transport, another example showing how disassociated the government and its agencies to its
people are public infrastructures (e.g. crooked streets, uneven pavements, dirty elevated pedestrian bridge that have
un-usable-45degree inclined platform for disabled people). Compare these to their streets in their gated communities
and you will be amazed how great is the disparity between our class to theirs.
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+2

Michael Koa
121 days ago
A quote comes to mind: "Every country has the government it deserves" and "In a democracy people get the leaders
they deserve." -Joseph de Maistre
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3 replies
+2

Pete Villareal
121 days ago
That's what we are getting with toooooooo much democracy..
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2 replies
+2

Leonil Mendoza
121 days ago
maybe, toooooooo much lunacy.
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1 reply
+2

rzc24arcel
120 days ago
Is it not because of tooooooo much government????
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+2

adecastro
116 days ago
Barcelona: one ticket: 2.15 euros, i.e., at least 120 pesos. Manila MRT: 12 pesos? 20 pesos? and you expect to get
all the good service without paying commensurately for it???
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2 replies
+1

Anonymous
114 days ago
Exactly.
Paris single ticket is 1.7 = 104 php
Dubai AED 1.80-11.60 depending on the ticket class and the number of stops. That's 21-140 php per ride.

If we want a better service, we have to pay for it.

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1 reply
0

Fatima Monteverde
71 days ago
Magkano sahod sa Barcelona at Dubai? If you want people to pay for it, pay them enough so they can afford to buy
expensive tickets!
Reply

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+2

WD Rooney
119 days ago
The only problem of this MRT mess... is lack of VISION!!!.. They knew that metro manila population will increase,
multiply, boom..... The designer, operators and the management should be farsighted enough to see what will happen
in the next 10, 20, 30 years..
An dedicated metro Transport Authority should be created (MMDA, LTFRB is a F_____shit...) to design, manage,
study, operate an metro transport system..
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1 reply
+1

Tabalumu
118 days ago
Hey, the managers of these entities (MRT/LRT/Airports/Expressways) are actually aware of all these problems and
the potential problems. As they are only operators who dont own these infrastructures, they will never shed money to
reinvest the moneies they've already earned in the upgrades or improvement of the facilities or services. If investors
are happy on the return of their investments, then there is no need to enhance the operation of these infrastructures
which costs them monies. People in high offices benefits in all these but damnation to the ordinary citizens.
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0

Ryan Cordova
120 days ago
It's not just the trains.

Many pedestrian bridges and overpasses do not even have roofs (in a tropical country with a lot of rain like the
Philippines, you'd think they'd remember to put those on first!), have steps that are very steep, very dangerous even
for pedestrians who are not pregnant, elderly or disabled, poorly maintained and have become havens for vagrants.
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+1

Bamskie Libre
121 days ago

how i wish that mrt problem was a corona impeachment trial when all politicians were united in removing him in
record time. the acquisition of mrt coaches, to adress the volume of pasengers, should have been a planned
acquisition since three years ago. but the earliest delivery of these coaches would start in the year 2015. does it really
take 6 years, and for that matter the whole term of the president, to decide, acquire and expect delivery of these
trains?
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+1

Dinna Dayao
121 days ago
Kalampagin natin ang LAHAT ng mga opisyal: #magcommutenamankayo!
Pirma na po! www.change.org/magcommute
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+1

Romero Dangoy
121 days ago
The masses doesn't even know who to vote they dont even care about a logical rants which I also believe is a nidus,
the biggest challenge is to bring the story of Antoinette and Louis to them, show them the reality of having 6 orange
grove inside Versailles and how they lived and how the heads of both was cut off from their bodies, put it in a
primetime drama series the same with all our heroes and not so hero like Aguinaldo let them ponder in it put it in
each dialect so that they could understand it EDUCATE THEM ALL
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+1

paolo_lim
121 days ago
If there is one thing to be hopeful for: Pope Francis (at least publicly) has been ditching the glitzy limos his
predecessors have been cocooned in, and taking public busses whenever it is possible for him to do so. Now if these
elite officials don't follow the pope's lead, what do you think will it say about their devoutness to Christian values of
being one with their less fortunate bretheren?
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4 replies
+1

Anton Oliver Javier

121 days ago

I'm sorry, since when have Philippine leaders ever followed a good example? Let me answer that question for you:
never. You can't expect a leader who won by popular vote to be morally straight as an arrow, unless the people have
been properly educated. The fact of the matter is, the government is a moral hell hole which strangles it's nation's
people by curtailing basic services such as education and healthcare year on year regardless of whether or not there
is a good example to follow. This year, they increased the education budget but sold centers for healthcare turning
them into semi-private hospitals. How are the sick and poor going to attend school? All this while the parking lots of
the senate and congress shame the pages of Top Gear magazine.
The people on the MRT are not even commonfolk as you would imagine. The commonfolk I see cannot ride the train
and have children dying on the ER of a public hospital after being transported by tricycle or jeepney wondering why a
flagship hospital of the DOH does not have a pediatric endoscope. Their parents' brains herniate before surgery
because its hospital's OR's are too fully booked because the hospital does not allocate a sufficient number of items
(contracts) for doctors, especially, neurosurgeons and anesthesiologists. You'd be surprised to find that some of your
doctors there are not even paid a cent and the doctors who do get paid end up providing surgical instruments for his
or her patients. Can you imagine being operated on for 12 hours by someone without sleep or salary?
The idea of this country's government following a good example is just out of touch with the realities of Philippine life.
And while it is true that this comment may come from someone who deals with the bottom strata for most of the time,
this bottom strata represents the lion's share of the population.

We need to cleanse the political elite.

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2 replies
+5

Renren Gabs
118 days ago
VOTE. Vote for the right people, not people with the right names
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0

Fatima Monteverde
71 days ago
Cleanse the political elite. Purge!
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0

DanSantos8
121 days ago

sadly there is only one Pope Francis.....

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0

Nice One
70 days ago
human rights ba ang access sa magandang public transport system? magfile kaya tayo ng class suit sa UN?
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1 reply
0

Nice One
70 days ago
para mapwersa ang gobyerno natin na ayusin ang problemang ito
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0

Ja Marang
71 days ago
Solusyon sa traffic sa Metro Manila?
1. Effective mass public transport- Public trains and buses. Tanggalin na ang mga tricycle, jeep, fx, at kung ano ano
pang ineffective means of transport. Kung mahusay ang mass public transport, wala ng dahilan para gamitin pa ang

pribadong sasakyan. Pero may problema, madaming mawawalan ng trabaho, so kung seryoso lang sana ang
gobyerno sa problema ng trabaho, e di wala sanang traffic-digs?
2. Tanggalin ang korupsyon sa gubyerno- LTO, LTFRB, MMDA, HPG, chocolate boys, etc. At higit sa lahat, ang mga
padrino, ang mga heneral at pulitiko na may-ari ng mga kolorum na bus at mga illegal terminals, at mga kotong
stations sa buong Metro Manila. Malaki ang kaltas sa kita ng mga driver ng jeep at bus dahil sa mga sindikato na ito,
so natural lang na maging barumbado/walang disiplina ang mga driver ng PUJ/PUV dahil kailangan nilang maghabol
ng kita, idagdag mo pa ang mataas na presyo ng krudo at gas. (Anyway, kapag nakakakita ako ng pulis at mga
tauhan ng pulis na nangungulekta ng kotong sa mga jeep at bus, pinipinahan ko talaga ang mga putangina) Ang
disiplina ng motorista ay nakasalalay palagi sa pagpapatupad ng batas, hence, kung walang korupsyon at seryoso
ang mga putanginag nagpapatupad ng batas, walang hindi susunod.
3. Maglagay ng seryosong bike lanes at maglagay ng matinong pedestrian lanes - Di na kelangan ipaliwanag,
nasubukan mo na bang maglakad sa kahabaan ng Edsa? at sa mga sidewalk na manok lang ang kasya? Hindi
pwedeng lakaran ang sira-sirang side walk ng Metro Manila, punong puno pa ng kung ano anong struktura na
sagabal at kung ano anong vendors na protektado ng mga sindikato. Kung may maayos na sidewalks na may
puno/shade at ligtas at matinong lakaran, mas gugustuhin ko pang maglakad, healthy pa.

4. Imbitahan sa isang bonggang party ang lahat ng nagtatrabaho sa gubyerno sa isang malaking yate/cruise ship.
Pasabugin at palubugin.
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eric
118 days ago
Funding the MRT/LRT to purchase more coaches only gives us a short term solution. A year or two later, we will be
back in the same scenario; why? POPULATION INCREASE. But when I say population increase, I am only referring
to Mega f*cking Manila, not the whole country. The problem is that the whole population of this country is flocking into
Metro Manila for job opportunities, from a household helper to the top level managers, most pinoys target Manila as
their career destinations (or at least a starting point).
One clear common denominator here is the increasing population in Mega Manila. I am not an economist or an
expert on the subject but what I see as a solution is that the government should seriously look into improving other
regions of the country, this way, the workforce population is spread out throughout the country. This will solve not only
the MRT problems but also the road traffic problems and a high possiblity of elimination of illegal settlers.

Ako ay isang probinsyano at tapat na nagbabayad ng tax, at umaaray ako kapag karamihan ng inaambag ko sa
buwis ay sa metro manila lang napupunta.
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Teckory Suarez
120 days ago
lrt / mrt is not only for the marginalized i remeber kris aquino, christine reyes and even manny pacquio were forced to
take it to get out of the impossible edsa traffic. this only goes to show that even if you have a reliable car assisted by
escorts in metro manila the best option to move around and beat traffic is a more reliable and effective mrt system.
thats then only way.
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Rodel Louron
120 days ago
at last,, a good article from rappler.....
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arewegayyet
120 days ago
ugh thank you for this! This country has been lacking the leadership that actually looks after the masses.... one may
even argue that it is the masses own fault... I am tempted to hand the country over to the technocrats....
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iheartyhanzkie
120 days ago
im not so good in the rules of law, but can we not file class suit against the government in this case? I mean they
failed deliver in the most basic needs of of the vast populace
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VS Alba
120 days ago
Masyado mapag pasensya mga pilipino kya naabuso ng sariling gobyerno.
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Daniel Alconga
121 days ago
I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of "Admin." The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime"
that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final
result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and welllighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to
raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or
the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."
[From the Preface]
C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
http://ct.fra.bz/ol/fz/sw/i54/5/9/12/frabz-Well-played-sir-Very-well-played-0600c6.jpg