LRMC CEO having the ride of his life

JUAN F. ALFONSO

Running LRT 1, the oldest and longest of the elevated rail systems in Metro Manila, is often a thankless job.

Hardly anyone notices when the train system is running as expected, but everybody raises a howl when it breaks down, even if for just a few minutes.

But Juan F. Alfonso, president and CEO of LRT 1 operator Light Rail Manila Corp., does not take it against the commuting public for having high expectations.

It is their right and also what they deserve in exchange for their fare, thus the mission of LRMC to provide best-in-class service.

To fulfill this mission, LRMC, the joint venture company of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.’s Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp., Ayala Corp.’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure’s Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte Ltd., continues to invest heavily in raising the operating standards of the entire system.

“It has been 34 years since it started operations. It is the oldest and the longest among the LRT lines. It is also now the most reliable,” Alfonso told the Inquirer.

And with taking the LRT 1 becoming a more pleasant experience, the next challenge is to encourage more Filipinos to take the train, and contribute to the decongestion of city streets.

One way to do so is to point Filipinos to possible places to visit that can be easily accessed via the stations of the current 20.7-kilometer LRT 1, which runs from Roosevelt to Baclaran.

“We want to bring these stops back into the Filipino consciousness,” he said.

The plan comes into fruition on July 27 with the launch of Ikot Mla, an initiative in partnership with the Department of Tourism that will highlight points of interest near the LRT 1 stations.

LRMC is bent on developing rail systems as it believes they offer the most efficient way to move people.

It is estimated that about 1,000 people can fit in just one three-car train per direction, as against a maximum of five in a car and about 110 for a bus.

But people still clog the main thoroughfares with cars because of the fragmented and inconvenient public transport system, a problem that LRMC wants to help solve by investing in rail systems.

Alfonso admits to not knowing much about rail systems for much of his professional career.

Prior to joining LRMC, Alfonso served as the Chief Operating Officer of Aseagas Corp., an Aboitiz Power subsidiary. He also served as SVP of AP Renewables, Inc. of Aboitiz Power where he was responsible for accounting, finance, legal and strategy.

But when he was given the task to head the organization starting December last year, he hit the ground running.

The transition from finance to operations has not been difficult, he says, all thanks to a professional team that has long been in place.

“I just needed to help make the whole team work. My job is to have a high performance team in place,” said Alfonso, who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from the Ateneo de Manila University and a Masters in Business Administration (cum laude) from F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

It is also his job as manager to give the team members a clear idea of what they need to achieve, even if that means dealing with irate customers and complaints every time the system operates below expectations and even their own performance standards.

“You need to make the organization your own, guided by the core values of teamwork and being open to each other. Our vision is to be the preferred transportation of choice of the public, and to deliver that service as safely and as effectively as possible,” he said.

The organization likewise draws inspiration from the values of the shareholders behind the organization—Metro Pacific (55 percent), Ayala (35 percent) and Macquarie (10 percent).

“We have to make sure that we deliver, and work behind a culture that we believe in,” said Alfonso.