12 MMDA employees test positive for drugs

Czech envoy’s testimony in Vitangcol-MRT case OKd

Twelve employees of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, mostly traffic enforcers, tested positive for shabu, MMDA general manager Jose Arturo bared in a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

"Twelve employees tested positive for using shabu. Six of them, since they are job order employees, were immidiately dismissed," he said.

"Most of them are traffic enforcers," he added.

Meanwhile, the other six who are permanent employees, will undergo due process.

"Even if they will undergo the due process, these employees will also be terminated. I am confident because the MMDA, especially Chairman Lim, does not tolerate drug use," Garcia said.

One of the employees who tested postive was caught with a bottle containing urine, apparently trying to alter the test result.

"He was caught with a bottle containing urine. We suspect that he was doing such for a very long time, in past MMDA administrations," Garcia said.

The drugs tests were held between May and June this year.

It was learned that at least 20 percent of employeess scheduled to undergo the drug test did not show up.

A total of 1, 000 employees were slated to take the test.

According to Garcia, the employees who did not take the drug test will be dealt with accordingly.

Former Czech Ambassador to the Philippines Josef Rychtar and businessman Josef Husek of the Inekon Group have been allowed by the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division to testify via real-time video conferencing in the case filed against former Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 General Manager Al Sanchez Vitangcol III.

The Sixth Division went back on its April 24, 2018 resolution denying the motion for their testimonies and issued a new one on July 3.

In it, the prosecution's motion for partial reconsideration was granted after they provided printouts of the email correspondences with Rychtar and Dr. Vit Makarius, the lawyer of Husek.

After examining the printouts, the court decided to grant the prosecution's motion.

"Said printouts, which essentially explained the reason for the inability of said witnesses to travel to the Philippines to testify in the present cases, do not constitute a part of the prosecution's evidence in chief," the resolution read.

"The prosecution has shown the necessity of allowing Amb. Rychtar and Mr. Husek to testify via video conferencing," it added.

"Thus, this Court will allow said witnesses to testify by means of video conferencing."

This video conferencing with Rychtar will be held on August 31, 2018 at 8:30 a.m., while Husek's video testimony will be conducted on September 7, 2018 at 1:30 p.m.

On July 9 and 10, 2012, Vitangcol and his middleman, Wilson Tigno De Vera, reportedly solicited US30 million from Inekon Group in exchange for the selection of Inekon as the supplier of the Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) under Lot 1 of the MRT3 Capacity Expansion Project.

Because Inekon officials refused Vitangcol's supposed offer, the amount was reduced to US$2.5 million.

Inekon, however, did not give in.