QUO VADIS PNR: The Poor Relations
Yesterday I took the LRT Line 1 (Monumento-Baclaran) at around 5:30PM (peak-hours). I haven't taken a ride on the LRT for a long time (years perhaps) and the whole experience was quite new and remarkable to me. I got on at Tayuman Stn. and got off at Buendia Stn. It was crowded but you can move around easily and it was comfortably cool. The passengers waiting on the stations and on-board were relatively disciplined and orderly.
By relatively, I mean in comparison with the PNR commuter trains which run from Tutuban to Alabang. The trains there are jam-packed (during peak hours). You have to practically slug it out to enter and exit the car! The PNR commuter crowd is also a rambunctious bunch. There are of course some who are well behaved but endure in silence. But there are those, mostly construction workers and such, who are really disorderly, cussing and swearing, and boisterously behaving while the train is on the move or even as they get on or off the train. This is probably because of the very low fares, i.e. one can go from Alabang to Tutuban/Divisoria (about 28 kms railroad distance) for just P20.00. And in just about an hour. Traffic free! This route can easily cost anywhere from P35 to P50 on regular bus/jeep mode of transport, and can take anywhere from an hour and forty minutes to two and a half hours! But the management of PNR sees this as something of a government social responsibility to the lowly paid workers. And so it has not even thought of increasing the fare rate for just a few pesos or cents more, i.e. P21.00 or even just P20.50, for more than three years of commuter operations.
On the macro-side, the PNR continues to be the "poor relations" when it comes to national government attention. Even as the LRT, MRT train systems are being given full support with billions of investment funds (and a recently announced promise of 52 more new cars), the PNR is trying to make do with decades-old, second-hand hand-me-down trains from Japan. Even legitimately funded projects such as the repair and rehabilitation of rail track to Bicol is going through the eye-of-the-needle at the Dept. of Finance, even as it continues to demand profit from it's operations. Former DOTC Secretary Ping De Jesus was about to give it's go signal for more funding but the plan was waylaid when he was replaced at a very crucial period for PNR. Secretary Roxas then immediately suspended all PNR projects (as he did for all other DOTC infra projects). But even as he announced funding for new airports, NLEX-SLEX infra projects, etc., nothing was heard from him about the PNR. Until now! In fact, he was quoted as saying he was for the closure of the PNR. And now, with a new DOTC Secretary, another round of review would further delay the much needed funding for PNR. NOTE: New DOTC Secretary Abaya has said in no uncertain terms, that he will just continue what Roxas has started - more bad news for PNR and its riders. One foreign aid organization, the Japan-based JICA, has communicated to the then DOTC Sec. Roxas, expressing it's concern for the poor state of the PNR and expressed it's readiness to help develop and improve it, but nothing has come out of it.
The new head of the PNR announced during his designation as new PNR head that President Aquino is fully supporting the PNR (see PNR website) and is all for the re-opening of the Manila-Legaspi route. But in reality, no significant help has come to PNR by way of new/fresh government funds. It's really short of a miracle that the PNR was able to re-establish the Bicol Express to Naga. It's like rising from the dead! It is a wonder that the PNR is still operating at all.
In the meantime, thousands of daily commuters have to endure the "violence" of commuting on the PNR trains, suffer the scorching sun or being soaked in the rain on the un-protected waiting areas at the PNR stations, not to mention the non-availability of waiting benches or chairs. A regular spectacle at the PNR stations are people sitting on the floor of the station or sitting on the platform with their legs hanging dangerously on the train's path. The more lucky ones have old but dirty wooden railroad ties to rest their tired bottoms while waiting for the trains to come along. PNR commuters suffer daily the oven-hot cars (fainting is not an infrequent occurrence inside the trains), unpredictable schedules (some complain that they could lose their job for being consistently reporting late for work and students complain that they are almost always late for classes). As a matter of fact, the reason why I took the LRT was because the PNR commuter train from Tutuban, which I take almost daily to Buendia, was cancelled and the next trip was uncertain.
While on that LRT commuter trip, I really began to realize how very unfortunate, pitiful, and perhaps luckless PNR is. I really really felt very sad for them because I know that the PNR people, especially the newly installed team, is hard at work and doing its best to provide at least a satisfactory level of service to the riding public. But it is hounded by problems of lack of national government support manifested in lack of funding, which results to inadequate train sets, lack of spare parts for repairs, etc. It is also lamentable that many of those whose constituents will benefit from an improved and revitalized PNR have kept silent or are taking the PNR for granted (except of course to berate it whenever a vehicle or a pedestrian is hit by a train in their area of jurisdiction). No provincial governor, with the notable exception of Gov. Joey Salceda of Albay, has expressed concern or outrage at the neglect of PNR. No Congressman, town/city mayor, their respective councils and even NGOs have ever made their voice known in support of the PNR or in protest of the sad plight of the very mode of transport that will not only benefit their constituents in terms of passenger mobility but also of product access to markets via rail. In the days of old, people from Bicol can go direct to Divisoria, buy their products and sell them in their province the next day! The PNR trains go through the cities of Caloocan, Manila, Makati, Taguig, Paranaque, Muntinlupa, the provinces and towns of Laguna, Quezon, Cams Sur, Albay. Even the party-listers that carry the name Bicol in their party name have not shown interest. What's with these people! One cannot help but think that perhaps they're busy making money - money from the seemingly constant road repairs and similar projects. There's no prospect of that in railroad construction/repair.
As to the media, except for a few 5-minute short features (one was even an MTV-type video), nothing in-depth has actually been made to look into the state and outlook of PNR. Of course, the media goes into overdrive whenever a train hits a vehicle or a pedestrian, but ignoring it altogether when the damage or injury is minor or if there's no fatality at all.
And so, as the cliche goes: Quo vadis PNR.
to make more things difficult is the death of former secretary jesse robredo ano bakong iyo padi. politics is the right term.God Bless all the filipinos.
ReplyDeletemost especially the bikolnons.
Sad!
ReplyDeleteI have loved taking the train from Alabang to Sta. Mesa for tat time of my studies..I have already moticed all that you're saying Chito..I hope this appeal of yours go to the President..
ReplyDeleteThis is such a sad state of affairs for our railroads. The one in Cebu was never revived after World War II left it in ruins. But the PNR is an active thing. I could not understand why our gov't officials prefer to support airplane flying when it is so dependent on fossil fuel which is very expensive.
ReplyDeleteI really hope the PNR is revitalized.
Sad, indeed Mags. SAD - three letters that just about sums it up for the PNR. Couldn't agree with you more.
ReplyDeleteHi Nons. There are hundreds, probably thousands of PUP students that are benefiting from or dependent on PNR for their daily school commute. Siguro, it's about time that that school or their alumni association recognize the contribution of PNR to their students. I know PUP students. They are perfectly capable of dramatic efforts and moves to air their demands and grievances. Perhaps they can use that potent force to demand from the government to attend to their needs for inexpensive and easy commute to school via the PNR. The students of PUP, UST, etc., are those I refer to as non-government organizations who should be expressing their need and demand for a better PNR. But sadly, I haven't heard from them, too. But they continue to swamp PNR's Twitter and Facebook accounts with complaints and sometimes nasty comments.
ReplyDeleteHi Raul. I don't know Jesse's thoughts on the PNR. What is a fact though is that during his time as Mayor of Naga City, and in his recent capacity as Secretary of the Dept. Of Interior and Local Government, he has not been known to have made a pitch, at least in public, for the PNR. What is known though is that when he was Mayor of Naga City, he has helped the illegal settlers, his constituents, along the railroad tracks, find new places to settle. And now that Jesse's gone, we will never know what he thinks about it. The most that I know of Jesse's relationship with the PNR is that he was an occasional passenger (pa minsan-minsan lang). I think he preferred the bus or the plane.
ReplyDeleteHi Lou. Actually, there were several more railroad companies other than PNR. Aside from Cebu, there was the Panay Railway Company. There's even a Mindanao Railway Company. Many years ago, they were somewhat connected to the PNR (in terms of corporate relationship). But oddly enough, nobody has heard of them now. No one it seems, among the political leaders and private sector alike, has railroad in mind. It's sad not just for PNR but for the entire railroad sector in the Philippines which was once a leader in Asia in this sector. The PNR has its beginnings in as early as 1870s but was formally/commercially operated in 1892! That antedates even the Philippine Revolution of Andres Bonifacio! That's how old PNR is (see http://pnr.gov.ph/history.htm). But through years of neglect, bias for road transport and the ravages of nature, it is what it is now - in a "sad state of affairs,"
ReplyDeleteThe PNR story may very well be the story of our country - showing a lot of promise, a leading economy in the early years, etc. But has been ravaged by human neglect, graft and corruption as well as the vagaries of nature leaving it as we see it now - a poor nation struggling to survive.
ReplyDeleteYes, Lou. Despite the depressing situationer, the PNR, against all odds, is being revitalized. But under the circumstances, it will take a while. There's so much to do but too little to work with at the moment. A major objective is to revive freight services. But this does not only mean strengthening and rehabilitating the tracks. It also means the construction of depot and freight yards in certain strategic areas and acquisition of box or freight cars and new locomotives. They are all capital-intensive projects.
ReplyDeleteThe recent derailment of the Bicol Express somewhere in Sariaya, Quezon and the consequent indefinite suspension of all Bicol trips underscores the issue of the urgent need for the PNR be given funding support by the national government to totally rehabilitate the tracks. That the accident resulted only in a few minor injuries is just simply lucky if not miraculous. If the needed financial support is not provided, the next time a similar incident occurs may result into a more grave consequences.
ReplyDeleteim thinking...should i just post the pnr pictures together with the pictures of places they can visit using the train .
ReplyDeleteHi thanks for your blog about this, Currently I am working for PNR, and am planning to organize a group that will help remembering PNR as the vital part of the Philippine History. I'll just update you when everything is sutup.
ReplyDelete