E THURSDAY I OCTOBER 10, 2OI9
vaccl[es
FIRST PERSON
ALEX MAGNO
Maintenance
'f et'snot debate about wheth-
I er we have a transport "cri-
l-Jsis" or not. That is merely a
semantic exercise.
What is sure is that we have
not been exemplary in runninf
the mass transport systems that
are supposed to relieve the city of
haffic congestion. Our commuter
rail systems are inadequate at best
unreliable at worst.
A few days ago, a transformer at the LRT-2 line
caught fire. That cut service along the whole line
for three days. Replacement of thetansformer will
r€quire an estmated nine months. During that time,
there will be no service from the Cubao stition to the
terminal at Santolan,
Only in the Philippines, one is tempted to say. How,
indeed, can we manage to have a fire on a rail line?
That can never happen in countries that love their
hains, such as Japan or France. It can onJy happen
in countries with a weak maintenance culture zuch
as ours.
It is very likely that the LRT-2 transformer explod-
ed because the oil indispensable to il.s efficient opera-
tion has not been changid years after the mainteriance
schedule said it should. This is a case of extreme
neglect that produced hell for tens of thousands of
consumers dependent on reliable tail service.
Perhaps it_ is something beyond neglect. Publicly
operated utilities are prone to postponing mairtti-
nance work because the logic o{ the bureaucrdcy
inhibits doing so.
_Imagine a train technician going io his bosses
asking for a rather large amount of money to replace
the special oils used 6y the transformers. The lil<ely
response he will get is: if it is noi broke, don,t fix ii.
The bosses, who know nothine of the ensineerins
details, are normallv inilined tjcover theii behindi
when faced with prbcurement proposals.
It has been years since the LRT-2 fell due for a ma-
jor overhaul. There is little indication that was done.
The bureaucrats managing this line had to wait for
a major failure to gain the impetus to do preventive
maintenance.
The same problems haunt the MRT-3 line. After
years of poor maintenance worlg this line needs
reconstructins.
When Marhoxas was transport secretary, the idea
struck him that Sumitomo wai an expensiie ma.inte-
nance provider. He cancelled the contract and took in
some amateur fiIm to do the maintenance for the rail
line..That was the beginning of a disaster.
Now Sumitomo is back ona contract to rehabilitale
thg lv{RT-3. The Japanese engineert it appears, refr,rse
to have the bulky trains Jun Abaya procured from
Dalian to run (and ruin) the tracks.
Perhaps it is time to consider privatizing the com-
muter rail system.
e.ti. statd
a hectic visit to Russia,
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Ktlssril' rI'resl-
Arrivilg from
dent Rodrigo Duterte rusneq Lo the hospital His
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vacclne.
Kitty's iase is not unique. fhe obH reports that
from |an. 1. to Sept. 21 this year, 320,000 cases of den-
gue were recorded. This is in addition to the measles
epidemic that swepi the archipelago the past few
mont}s and the alarming resurgence of polio.
Whatever Dengvaxia's merils (or demerits) might
be, the procurement of this vaccine remains sus-
pended. This is a consequence of conhoversy overthe
reckless orocurement of the vaccine in 2016 and its
hasty apilication on 800,000 Filipino children on the
eve bf elictions that year. Jaiette Garin was Health
Secretary when this haBpened.
Dengvaxia remains close to Carin's heart, appar-
ently. List week" she shouted down a colleague on the
floor of the House of Representatives and attempted
to have him r€moved fiom the hal1 after he raised
questions about the credibility of Sovemmenfs vac-
cination programs post-Dengvaxia.
When aski4 in an interview lastAugust, about the
permanent ban on Dengvaxia, Garin accused current
Health Secretary Francisco Duque of playing politics
in upholding the ban on her favorite vaccine. Her re-
marls form part of a continuing diatribe against the
govemment department she once headed.
When Paulyn Ubial was health secretary, Garin
criticized what she called the haphazard prccur€ment
of Japanese Encephalitis vaccine. DOH insiders saw
this as an effort to snow under the controversy over
the procurement of Dengvaxia.
Late$she accused Calabarzon regional health di-
rector Eduardo Janiero of corruption. Janiero happens
to head the DOFI s Dengvaxia Task Force.
Officials at the DOH are quite wary o{ whatever
Garin is trying to do. She has become some sort of
ghost from the past, anointing herself watchdog over
the work of this deparhnent.
They are wary because they are familiar with Garin's
skills at playing politics to get things her way. She comes,
afber all, from a powerful political family and achrally
served as Iloilo provhcial board member even as she
was doing her residency in obstetrics and g;"necology.
In 2015, she raised eyebrows among public health
professionals when she was appointed Health Secre-
tary. Since she did not have the exemplary dinical and
medical management experience of her predecessors,
it was assumed pmximity to then President Noynoy
Aquino explains her appointment. She replaced (or
eased out) lhe iliustrious Dr. Enrique T. Ona who had
served as executive director of the National Kidney
and Transplant Institute and was a TOYM awardee
for medicine before being named to head the DOH.
Garin's political ally in Iloilo, Sen. Franklin Drilon
took the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) to task dudng
budget hearings for setting up a forcnsics lab. The PAO,
we rivilheca[ played a prominent role on behalf of par.
ents claiming their drildren diedbecause of Dengvaxia.
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P/jae !: