Commuters Protest To Stop MRT-LRT Fare Hike

By Alon Calinao Dy: As a young boy, I noticed that all the goods in the Philippines have increased except the payoff of the common workers. My curiosity aroused me when I become old to understand things around me. This is the question of the majority of Filipinos: where are the taxes of the people going through?

I thought for a moment that if we increase the taxes we also uplift the lives of the people and would eventually progress the growth of our economy. I soon realized I was wrong.

Nowadays, as life becomes harder and harder, nobody wants the MRT-LRT fare hike. How long has it been since I've considered that someday there's a noticeable change in the standard of living of my countrymen? I guess it would be about 20 years ago.

Life is getting tougher and worse with each passing year. If it is not the cost of the gas that will go up, it is the train fare increase... I don't want to be negative about this, but this is what is going on these days in the Philippines.

People have no longer trust in our government agencies, especially when it comes to politics. They have one thing to say about politicians, as they believe most of them are corrupt, who make politics as a source of personal income.

I want our government agencies to understand that there are so many passengers who used this kind of mode of transportation because they believe it is a cheaper and faster way to arrive in their respective destination. I want our government to keep the fare of our railway at a minimal rate. I want our government to protect the interest of a majority of the people.

It would be nice to thoroughly investigate where are the profits of MRT-LRT going through and why they could not render good facilities and services for the commuters. 

As citizens of this country, it is our right to know where our daily taxes are going through because common workers cannot spend more money if their salaries are still the same and do not rise throughout the years. Doubts and fears have endured long enough by these poor people.

Meanwhile, it seems that Maynilad has convinced the court and the public that there is a demand to increase water rates all over Metro Manila. This is another bad news for the commuters who are also consumers because water is necessary to every household. 

Sadly, we can't do something about it to stop the increase water rates even if we try to appeal the court, but let's keep on trying and praying that Maynilad’s major shareholder Metro Pacific Investments Corp.,  businessman Manny Pangilinan would change his stance.

I believe our government should think the long-term interest of the passengers whether the privatization  of MRT and LRT 1 is good for the people or not. In my point of view, Aquino administration should not be enticed to sell its remaining stocks to whoever private owners who have a huge interest in our railway stations.