Senior officials of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) have been ordered to take public transportation at least once a week so they can experience the struggle of commuters. After doing so, they will also be required to submit weekly accomplishment reports indicating their observations, recommendations, and plans of action, along with submitting proof of compliance.
The directive of acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez covered undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, executive directors, and regional directors of the Land Transportation Office, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, as well as administrators and general managers of the Light Rail Transit Authority, Philippine National Railways, and Metro Rail Transit Line 3.
It follows his own commuter experience in Quezon City, where he rode a bus, boarded MRT-3, and climbed the steep EDSA-Kamuning footbridge that has been dubbed by locals as “Mt. Kamuning.”
“It’s really difficult what our fellow citizens go through every day – commuting feels like a punishment and is exhausting,” he said of his experience.
While it is refreshing to see top government officials taking the time to experience the daily grind being endured by the people they are supposed to serve, hopefully to get a better idea of what is expected from them, it should be the rule, rather than the exception. If DOTr senior officials have to commute at least once a week, so should all other national and local government officials.
Instead of being shuttled around in air-conditioned SUVs convoys, with patrol cops clearing the way, and being hustled around by bodyguards when they do go out in public, all Filipino government officials have to experience what it is like to commute, use our sidewalks, cross the street, or go to a public market or hospital, not for photo ops, but to partake of the quality of the services being offered, without being fawned over or being given preferential treatment.
Unless they can feel the same frustrations that the public goes through every day, our country’s public servants will never be able to serve us properly. If acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez and his top officials can do it, other public officials should also give it a go, not just for show, but sustainably and consistently.*
