Tren

Last week, amidst the post-election noise and proclamation ado, my two-part special feature on death along the riles came out on the front page. I thought the warning train whistle was all but drowned out but on the same day we started the feature, Inquirer TV took up the same issue on its first one-hour weekly show. And it did something more—it asked viewers to text in their views on who they thought was at fault (``sino ang may sala’’) in the endless tragedies on the tracks. The best view won the texter a 21-inch TV.

The winner was Ramil Jimenez of Bulacan who SMSed: ``Pnganib man ay di alntana, buhay riles sa knilay gloria, madurog dto y krngalan pa khit ang gobyerno y iwas pusoy sa kainutilan nila!’’ Straight out of Huseng Batute country.

InqTV producer John Nery said they received hundreds. For both the txt addicts and the txtually-challenged, here are a few more. Have fun deciphering them. ``Mga politikong mpgsmntala bgmt mapiligro mgtayo ng bhy s tbi ng riles pngttangol pa nla ang mga e2, pra boto lng nla ay mkuha.’’



``i2 pagdting ng eleksyon ay prng cla rin ang komokonsinte s mga tao n manrihn s riles ng tren.’’

``Tao matigas ang ulo at pamahalaan walang pakialam basta may sueldo sila.’’

``A matter of choice n discipline on d part of d riles pipol n 4 d govt a matter of doing their responsibilities.’’

``Kasalanan ng namtay lalu n kung lasing, pag bata magulang me sala ang riles para lng sa tren. Off limits kahit n sino doon.’’

``We should not blame anyone, our safety relies on ourselves. Accidents don’t happen if right precautions are taken.’’

``Pag marinig ko ang cerbato ng tren na yan dinadasal ko sa panginoon ang mga kaluluwa ng pinatay nila.’’

``Kahirapan! Dahil sa khirapan d naip2pad ng pamhalaan ang kinakailangang pgbbgo s sistema ng perokaril d mailagay s ayos ang lhat.’’

``Gobyerno di nagkulang. Kayong nasa gilid ng riles ang nabibingi-bingihan. Sisihin nyo sarili nyo hindi ang gobyerno.’’

`It s my fault it s my apathy it is my refusal 2 c d ppl and their hardships it s my refusal 2 lift a finger.’’ Wow to that one.

While I am writing this, this Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is making her inaugural address in Manila. She is saying something about getting tougher on those who have more, and easier on those who have been toughing it out. Or had it tough. I presume, she means the poor.

The riles dwellers are among the poorest and most endangered, literally and figuratively.

Who is to blame for the deaths along the riles? We’re referring here, not to motorists who cross the tracks despite the warning or because of not enough warning, but to those who live along the tracks. As the InqTV viewers said, it’s both the riles residents and the government.

I take up this issue again, in this column, while the President is up there on the podium, because the rehabilitation of the railways, particularly those in Metro Manila that will link up with portions of south and north Luzon, is among her flagship projects. This is the land-based counterpart of the Ro-Ro (``roll on, roll off’’) transport system that is supposed to link islands through land and sea vessels. Mindanao and Visayas will have their share of railways too, but it is Metro Manila that has hundreds of thousands of riles dwellers who are waiting to be displaced.

Where will these people go? As it is, there is a love-hate relationship between the riles dwellers and the trains. Hate relationship is more like it if you ask train officials and passengers who have had to bear the brunt of the riles denizens’ dislike for trains.

A friend of mine called to say, after she read the series, that a friend of hers lost one eye after he was hit by a flying projectile that came from the side of the tracks. Stones, garbage, human excrete--name it—have been hurled at passing trains. The Metro trains now have window screens to protect the passengers and the train roofs have been made pointed to prevent garbage bags from landing there.

From Tayuman to Alabang, which is a 20-kilometer stretch, the riles population is about 75,000. The number of households is about 16,000. What does the government plan to do with them?

Metro Manilans have now gotten used to railway commuting, but that is via the overhead MRT and the LRT. The old so-called commuter trains on the ground are decrepit and rusty they are described as nakakatetano (tetanus-bearing).

The Philippines is perhaps one of the most behind in the trains department and it is high time those old railway lines are rehabilitated. It’s been 117 years since the first railroad tracks were laid out by the British-owned Manila Railroad Company in 1887. In 1892, the first ferrocaril, stretching from Manila to Pangasinan, was opened.

Shortly before the May 10 elections, Pres. Arroyo announced plans for the modern railway system for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao ``to serve our people, move cargo, link and fuse economies, create new human settlements, and help unite the nation.’’ It will be called Strong Republic Transit System (SRT).

For Metro Manila, the proposed showcase is the South manila Commuter Rail Project, a 32-km. stretch from Caloocan City to Alabang. It will cost US$65 million. It is a join project with Korea and with financial assistance from Korean banks.

But wait. While an interagency plans is being drawn up by the Philippine National Railways and housing officials, many groups from communities that will be affected wonder if they will be invited to be consulted. Or will they go the way of the obsolete trains—eventually dumped and disregarded?

I can hear the whistle blowing.