Abaya to be charged over MRT contract
THE OMBUDSMAN has found probable cause to indict Joseph Emilio A. Abaya together with 16 others, in connection with “the anomalous MRT-3 maintenance contract” on Mr. Abaya’s watch as head of the then Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC), the Ombudsman said in a statement Monday.
The statement said a Special Panel of Investigators formed by the Ombudsman has found irregularities in the awarding of the P4.25-billion contract to the Busan Joint Venture (Busan JV), which includes the firms Edison Development and Construction, Tramat Mercantile Inc., TMI Corp. Inc., Castan Corp., and Korean-led enterprise Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI).
“During the evaluation process, all offers were found to be deficient in their eligibility and technical documents and were given the opportunity to cure the defect,” the Ombudsman said regarding the three offers to maintain the MRT-3 submitted as of Oct. 21, 2015.
The contract entailed the maintenance of the train system, a general overhaul of 43 units of light rail vehicles (LRVs), the total replacement of the signaling system, and additional maintenance works.
A week later, a negotiating team still “declared the Busan JV as being the sole entity which passed the eligibility on technical and financial documents evaluation... (and) recommended to the MRT-3 BAC (Bids and Awards Committee) that the bid of Busan JV be declared as the Single Calculated Officer and that post-qualification proceedings be conducted.”
Busan JV entered into the contract with the MRT-3 and DoTC (now the Department of Transportation or DoTr) on Jan. 7 the next year.
According to the special panel, “unwarranted benefits, advantage and preference” were also extended when the project was awarded to Busan JV, “an ineligible and unqualified entity,” the Ombudsman said.
The Commission on Audit (CoA) also observed, in its 2016 audit, that “DoTr still failed to provide the riding public with a safe and comfortable transport system even with the procurement and delivery from August 2015 to January 2017 of 48 new LRVs with a total cost of P3,759,382,400.00.”