Remember the most recent fire in Pure Gold, Libertad? That mall was the port of the Light Rail Transit Libertad Station. When the mall was burning, the LRT stopped operations for a while. I was on my way to school then, exactly when the train stopped. The line at the bag inspection was really long and it took a really long while for everyone to know that the train was down. The public announcement system didn’t reach the people in line nor did the security guards go out and disperse the growing line for bag inspection.
I called a friend who was on the way to the same class. We went down to EDSA to find a growing crowd on the street. We didn’t know how to get to school by jeep, so we took a tricycle. Man, EXTORSION!!! Fifty bucks for a tricycle ride… Amazing… Just amazing!!! Well, no choice…
Maybe a year or so later, we had to do a communication audit for our crisis communication course. I wanted to do the LRT. I emailed the Public Relations Office, but the reply went something like we were asking for information that was “too sensitive” to release to anyone since the LRT is government-owned. Tssss… Short of saying they didn’t have plans if disasters hit them!
A business continuity plan that could have come out from the communication audit we were offering to do for the LRTA could have saved them millions of pesos that would now go to consultants and impromptu disaster control.
*Sigh* Government and public transportation… Where have we gone wrong?
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