While the netizens are praising the Department of Transportation (DOTr) by trying to revive the Philippine National Railways (PNR), several people, including minors, are allegedly trying to sabotage its operations.
According to PNR, they reported 14 incidents of people throwing rocks to the running trains owned by PNR, which endangers the safety of the people using their service.
PNR OIC Spokesperson Crissy Ecalnea said that there’s a difficulty in catching the people throwing rocks at their trains.
“Mahirap kasing manghuli o mag-identify noong sa stoning incidents kasi naglalakbay ‘yung tren. And then usually ‘yung mga tao, nagtatago sila,” Ecalnea said.
However, one culprit was caught by the authorities and discovered that it’s a teenager.
The minor suspect said that they’re only doing it for fun.
The authorities don’t have any choice but to free him and just remind the parents of the suspect not to do the same thing again.
“Wala ring maibigay na magandang dahilan kasi minsan, isang katuwaan. Pinagsabihan ‘yung magulang na pagsabihan yung anak,” Ecalnea said.
Because of the recent incidents, PNR said that they’re pushing for a bill that would make sabotaging train operations unlawful.
They said that they wanted to give additional punishment to the people throwing rocks at their trains because they’re prioritizing the safety of the passengers.
“Pag nabato siya, may tendency siya na ‘yung mga bubog o ‘yung glass niya, mag-shatter doon sa mga tao, tamaan ‘yung mga tao. So isa ‘yon sa added layer na ginagawa natin temporarily,” she said.
The rock-throwing incident also halted the plan operations of new trains to reach Alabang station.
“Next week you will see this train running on the PNR system… FTI to Malabon (stations). Gusto nga ho naming isama yung Alabang, kaya lang ho dinelay muna namin,” Tugade said.
“Kasi ang nangyayari ho ‘don sa Alabang, kailangang sabihin ko it…. ‘pag dumaan ‘yong linya ng tren sa Alabang, binabato, tinitirador. So it puts into jeopardy the safety of the riding public, ngayon ho titiradorin ho ‘wag muna natin padaanin ‘yong bagong train, hulihin muna yung mga animal na ‘to,” he added.
Netizens expressed disappointment over the rock-throwing incidents at PNR.
“This is why Filipinos, don’t deserve new things. Salaula talaga at walang Modo,” a netizen said.