President ‘disconnected’

President Benigno Aquino III has probably never rode an MRT or LRT train in his life. If he had, it would have been for PR and political purposes—to try and portray himself as a man of the people. But a man of the people he is not, especially to the poor Filipino masses. He is completely detached when it comes to their plight.

Proof of this disconnect between Mr. Aquino and the Filipino masses, particularly those living in Metro Manila, was his reaction and response to the MRT and LRT fare hikes. Aside from the problem of overloaded and crammed trains, MRT has other problems like keeping the train doors closed while the trains are running or keeping the trains on the rail track. Instead of focusing on improving and fixing these problems, Mr. Aquino allowed, indeed supported and defended, the imposition of higher fare hikes. Mr. Aquino went so far as to tell MRT commuters that they should be happy that the fare increases didn’t go any higher.

This reminds me of a statement of the President after Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” where he rebuked starving survivors in search of their missing/dead loved ones, even as they were still totally at sea as to where they could get their next meal or find a supply of safe drinking water, that they should be happy to be alive.

The problem with President Aquino is, he is seemingly aloof even to the plight of the poor masses. Of course, being alive is cause enough for Yolanda survivors to be happy, but the President’s “advice” was simply insensitive. The survivors were still grieving over the loss of people close to them and reeling from the devastation wrought by the strongest typhoon

ever to make landfall.

Telling MRT commuters to be happy that fare hikes were raised only so much and not any higher is one more evidence of how insensitive and disconnected he is to the masses’ sufferings.

—FRANNIE VERDUGO,[email protected]