BY PRINCE GOLEZ
Manila Reporter
MANILA – Tomorrow, the Senate sub-committee on public services will start an investigation on the Metro Rail Transit (MRT).
An MRT coach got derailed in Pasay City on Aug. 13, leaving 36 passengers injured.
Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the sub-committee, will lead the investigation.
In preparation for Monday’s probe, the neophyte legislator took the MRT on Friday from the North Avenue station to Taft Avenue.
In an online news report, Poe was quoted as saying it took her “almost two hours” to travel to her destination.
Poe also lamented that a nonfunctioning escalator resulted to passenger congestion at the North Avenue station in Quezon City.
But generally, her train experience was “pleasant,” she told Rappler.com.
Senators who asked for an investigation were Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara and Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino.
On one hand, Poe filed Senate Bill No. 2266 which seeks to create a National Transportation Safety Board.
It will conduct safety inspections on land, sea and air transportation, said Poe.
“The Philippines long needs a central agency tasked with probing transportation-related incidents, conducting special studies concerning transportation safety and recommending improvements in transportation safety,” she said./PN
