DOTr to step into MRT officials’ row

MANILA, Philippines — Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade will intervene in the conflict between two high-ranking officials of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), a week after the two men figured in an altercation, an official said yesterday.

Goddess Hope Libiran, DOTr communications director, said Tugade will meet with MRT-3 general manager Rudy Garcia and MRT-3 director for operations Michael Capati today to “settle all issues,” but refused to elaborate.

She said that everything will be handled internally in a very professional manner.

The MRT-3 is an attached agency of the DOTr.

However, an advisory forwarded by Libiran to reporters about the Philippine Economic Briefing in Clark, Pampanga, showed that Tugade is supposed to attend the event and make a presentation at around 3:30 p.m. today.

Capati reported to Tugade last week that Garcia allegedly assaulted him during a meeting with some representatives of the Australian Agency for International Development and Asian Development Bank.

Sources said Capati and Garcia are not on good terms as Capati allegedly bypassed Garcia, his boss, regarding the train’s rehabilitation program and directly reported to DOTr Undersecretary Tj Batan.

Another source said Capati was just doing his job as head of the MRT-3 Maintenance Transition Team that serves as the rail line’s temporary service provider.

Meanwhile, the MRT-3 reported yesterday that there have been no unloading incidents for 10 days, from April 2 to April 11, breaking its previous record of nine days, or from Feb. 22 to March 2.

“This does not mean that the system will be completely glitch-free and that there will be no future breakdowns or unloading incidents,” Aly Narvaez, media relations officer of the MRT-3, said in a statement.

A few hours after the MRT-3 made the announcement about the zero unloading incidents, a train was removed from the track and was replaced by a new one after it developed a signaling system error.

The MRT-3 said no unloading of commuters happened. The MRT-3 deployed 15 to 16 running and operational trains as of noon yesterday.