MRT won’t pull out Erap fare cards

The Metro Rail Transit Authority (MRTA) said yesterday it will not pull out the fare cards bearing the photo of ousted President Joseph Estrada.

"We can’t pull out the cards. We will keep using them because we have no choice.  We have no time to engage in politics. The Palace understands us," MRTA spokesman Mariano Gui said in a telephone interview. "We are apolitical. We work on three shifts to ensure that we provide good service to our passengers."

Gui doubts the plan of the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) to stamp or print over the face of Estrada on their fare cards.

He said that before the MRTA approved the re-release of the Erap cards, they tried to erase the image of the former President with all sorts of chemicals and even tried stamping over it.

"It did more harm than good.  Our machines just got destroyed. I don’t think it will work. I’m not sure if the LRTA’s plan will work," Gui said.

Last Tuesday, LRTA Administrator Melquiades Robles said they will be printing over the Erap cards in order to save on production costs.

Robles noted that as of the moment, they will not be releasing the two million Erap cards, not until they have printed a new "face" on the cards.

Gui explained that when they tried stamping over Estrada’s face, the cards just became thicker. The machines only rejected them when they were inserted.

Often, the card would get stuck in the machines.

"The machines were simply rejecting the cards because of the alteration," Gui said.

He noted, however, that they are currently using 400,000 of the 700,000 remaining Erap cards of the MRT.