MRT-3 GM Rodolfo Garcia dies after contracting COVID-19

BY ALEXANDRIA SAN JUAN

Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) General Manager Rodolfo Garcia has passed away after testing positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Department of Transportation (DoTr) confirmed.

“It is with a heavy heart to learn of the passing of one of the members of the DoTr family, MRT-3 General Manager Rodolfo Garcia earlier this evening,” the Department said in a statement on Wednesday.

“We acknowledge and highly appreciate Gen. Garcia for sharing his expertise, knowledge and leadership. We recognize his untiring effort to improve the state of the MRT-3,” it added.

Last Jan. 28, the DoTr announced that Garcia was confined in an intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital after he tested positive for COVID-19.

Garcia was a retired police general who was appointed by President Duterte in 2017 as general manager of the capital’s largest train system.

Prior to this, he had served as MRT Director for Operations under former MRT-3 General Manager Reynaldo Berroya who is now the current administrator of the Light Rail Transit Authority.

Also last January, the DoTr announced that 42 personnel within the MRT-3 depot in Quezon City contracted the virus, with one confirmed fatality. (Alexandria San Juan)