The ‘Art’ of Transportation

One of the main reasons why people elected Rody Duterte into office has to do with the dissatisfaction and disappointments the people had experienced with the past administration’s inability to solve the problem of congestion, not only in Metro Manila, but all over the country. Let’s face it – the Department of Transportation (DOTr) is probably the most important portfolio in the Cabinet because it impacts almost all aspects of life in this country.

Whether by land, sea or air, the country needs transportation for employees to get to work, for ambulances to speedily reach the hospital, for OFWs to fly to their destinations, and for tourists to have a favorable impression of the Philippines. Unfortunately for the previous administration, the gargantuan problem of traffic and congestion ultimately caused their downfall.

As Transportation Secretary, Art Tugade has one of the most critical roles in the Duterte administration, with a lot of expectations coming from Filipinos that he would be able to get things moving – literally and figuratively – at the DOTr and its affiliate agencies and bureaus.  We met with Art and his team composed of Undersecretary for Aviation and Airports Bobby Lim, Usec for Rail and Toll Roads Noel Kintanar, Usec for Planning Rommel Gavieta and Assistant Secretary for Communications Cherie Mercado-Santos – all of whom have hit the ground running despite the fact that they have yet to receive their formal appointment papers – to discuss the proposed emergency powers for the department and its short- and long-term plans.

“No matter who you place in DOTr, without emergency powers, he will disastrously fail. It doesn’t mean that the emergency powers will enable you to solve all problems, but you will have a fighting chance,” Art says. While he is realistic enough that the deliberations and hearings from both Houses of Congress will take some time, he is hopeful the emergency powers will be granted perhaps by October to give him time to get the wheels moving, so to speak. Demand for transportation is double peak before Christmas – whether for goods or people, and with it doubles the congestion.

“Let’s disabuse ourselves from thinking that the problem of traffic will be solved in 100 days – perhaps not even in the entire six-year term (of the president), but it’s got to be addressed. That’s why we have a roadmap for transportation and infrastructure for 100 days, one year, three years, then four to six years,” he says, adding that he is taking a holistic approach where the focus is on “low-lying fruits” first.

For instance, the MRT. When the new DOTr team assumed in July, the passenger per hour per direction or PPHPD was about 14,000 with 16 trains composed of three cars running at 40 kilometers per hour. To cut down the lines of people buying tickets, 75 offsite locations have been opened where people can buy tickets, while free Wi-Fi will be installed in the platforms to make the waiting time more bearable. The DOtr is also utilizing Twitter to advise commuters about the status of queues in the stations so they can manage their time or decide to use some other form of transportation. 

According to Usec Kintanar, they have been able to push up the number of operating trains to 18, with the speed now at 50kph since every 10 kilometer of speed added is almost like an additional train running. The plan is to increase the speed by 60kph with 20 three-car trains running in 100 days, although reliability has to be addressed because one train breaking down affects the whole system. People however are noticing the effect of small, incremental improvements like the extension of LRT operating hours for additional 30 minutes. As one waiter related, his take home pay has increased because he no longer works under-time just to catch the last train since the operating hours have been extended.

“We look at what is immediately implementable,” Secretary Tugade says, citing the government’s plan to move general aviation aircraft out of NAIA. He says this will be done in phases but agrees with us that Sangley may not be suitable for big aircraft (aside from maintenance issues because of its proximity to the sea) at this time, so he is looking at Clark or Subic. “The jets or turbo props we can immediately transfer. For phase two, we will study the helicopters,” the Secretary says, disclosing that exceptions could be made for those used in emergencies like hospital and rescue operations because in developed airports like Singapore, the general aviation is completely separated from commercial aircraft.

I remember very well how Art took full responsibility for the ensuing chaos when 28 flights had to be diverted to Clark international Airport because of a cracked runway at NAIA. After all, I myself spent seven hours inside a PAL aircraft after a 10-hour flight from Honolulu. Art Tugade refused to look at the past because “nag-assume na tayo dito. When you point fingers, you take your own sweet time solving a problem – but the people cannot wait anymore,” he says. That’s precisely the reason why the runway was fixed way before the Secretary’s midnight deadline – because he refuses to accept any excuses, telling his people, “Don’t ask kung kaya ba ninyo – kayanin ninyo!”

While President Duterte is taking on corrupt generals and politicians involved in drugs, also personally hitting Joma Sison, businessmen and occasionally the United States – one man is quietly working in his low-profile way to effect even small changes that are making a big difference in the lives of Filipinos – the Art (Tugade) of Transportation.

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