DOTr vows to improve MRT operations despite Chavez resignation

Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) system. (PNA photo)

MANILA — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) assured commuters that it will pursue initiatives to improve the operations of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) despite the resignation of a top official.

“The DOTr was caught by surprise by the irrevocable resignation of Undersecretary for Railways Cesar Chavez. We, however, respect his decision to vacate the post in the spirit of delicadeza, and to give way to, according to him, the appointment of a person better qualified to implement swifter reforms at the MRT-3,” the department said in a statement Friday.

The department said it will recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte a qualified and competent official who will be in charge of the rehabilitation of the railway system.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade earlier said he did not cause, or ask for Chavez’s resignation and would have preferred him to stay.

“He has my full trust and confidence. We have been doing plans and strategies together, up until yesterday. Even by texts as I was on sickbay. That is why I am surprised by the very sudden turn of events,” Tugade said.

“If I had it my way, I would have wanted for him to stay,” he added.

In his resignation letter addressed to the President, Chavez said he was stepping down from his position irrevocably out of a “simple sense of delicadeza”.

Chavez said he made the decision to resign after the decoupling incident of a train coach in the MRT Ayala Station last week.

He is confident that the President would be able to select an official with extensive experience in the railway sector and can implement initiatives to improve the MRT system’s operations.