Buhay party-list Representative Lito Atienza lamented the slow construction of the LRT Cavite extension project, saying that it’s already been promised by politicians for years but still not completed.
During a press conference, Atienza mentioned former President Noynoy Aquino who boasted that the LRT Cavite extension will be completed during his term, however, the said project construction only started in 2019.
He then asked the former President and former interior secretary Mar Roxas if they’re really going to keep their promise that they’re going to let themselves run over by a train if they’re not going to complete the said project in the time they mentioned.
“Yung train papunta sa Cavite, diba? Anong sabi ni Pnoy ‘magpapasagasa ako kapag hindi pa tumatakbo ng December [2015] yan eh’, kasama ko si Secretary Roxas… I’d like to ask them, magpapasagasa na ba kayo? dahil hindi pa nauumpisahan hanggang ngayon,” Atienza said.
“For President Pnoy and Secretary Roxas, bakit hindi kayo nag pasagasa? Para maniwala kami sa inyo,” he added.
It seems that Atienza mistakenly mentioned Roxas instead of former Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya who’s the one mentioned by Pnoy during his speech in Cavite.
During a campaign sortie of his senatorial slate in April 2013, former President Aquino vowed to the people of Cavite that the LRT Cavite Extension project would be completed in 2015.
“Pagdating naman ng 2015, hindi lang natin mapapabilis ang biyahe mula Baclaran hanggang Bacoor kundi madadagdagan din tayo ng tinatayong 250,000 na pasahero ang maisasakay kada araw dahil sa LRT Line 1 extension. At pag hindi ho nangyari ito, nandiyan po si Secretary Abaya na mangangasiwa ng proyektong to, dalawa na kaming magpapasagasa siguro sa tren,” he said.
Even if the footage was taken a long time ago, the speech was still getting viral on the internet sometimes.
According to the Department of Transportation, the LRT-1 extension will be operation by the end of 2021.