By Kristine Angeli Sabillo| INQUIRER.net | April 21, 2014

MANILA, Philippines – The government’s concern is to ensure that our trains run smoothly, Malacañang said Monday.

But commuters were again up in arms that morning as they were forced to brave long queues at the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) after the long weekend following Holy Week.

“Our concern is to restore the service and to ensure that there will be minimal or there will be no further interruption,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said in a televised press briefing, hours after the mad rush of people back to the city started causing heavy traffic and long lines at the MRT.

He said that the government is focused on fixing the problem as soon as possible because of the thousands of people dependent on the MRT as their mode of transportation.

“There are also proposals to implement performance targets on maintenance, including higher reliability and greater availability of coaches to increase the available capacity of the train, since the MRT is the backbone of our daily commute along the longest and busiest main artery, which is Edsa,” Coloma said.

Meanwhile, the Secretary explained that “the MMDA is doing what it can in order to minimize the inconvenience of motorists and also our general public that are commuting along Edsa.”

“Together with the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), they are working out solutions that will minimize further inconvenience,” he added.

Earlier in the day, DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson apologized for their failure to meet their deadline on the road repair projects in Edsa.

Coloma also asked for the public’s understanding and patience.

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