LRTA probing equipment deal since 2019

THE management of the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) had been investigating irregularities in the purchase of P170.3million worth of equipment for LRT 2 long before the Philippine Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) launched its own probe.

In a text message to TheManilaTimes on Friday, LRTA spokesman Hernando Cabrera said Administrator Reynaldo Berroya ordered the investigation into the procurements in 2019.

“We have already rendered the report and findings on the matter of the Rolling Stock Diagnostic Tools. The report on the re-railing tools is now being prepared. The investigation on the Scissor Lift and

Articulating Boom, and Conveyance is still ongoing,” Berroya said without going into details.

Cabrera said the full report on diagnostic tools consists of 115 pages while that on the re-railing equipment was still being written.

“On the two other items [scissor lift and articulating boom, and conveyance] we will commence fact-finding hearing this month,” Cabrera said.

The PACC said its investigation uncovered anomalies that warrant the filing of charges against LRTA officials and companies that took part in the bidding for the equipment.

Documents obtained by The Times on Thursday showed that re-railing and rolling stock diagnostic equipment delivered for LRT 2 turned out to be different from the equipment approved by the Bids and Awards Committee of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

In one instance, a crate containing re-railing equipment had a sticker printout identifying it as having been shipped by the Chinese firm CRRC Corp., as ordered by the winning bidder Kempal Construction and Supply Corp.

The crate, however, contained equipment from Bemco, an Indian company.

Evidence “indicates that the rerailing equipment did not come from CRRC but from Bemco,” PACC said.

It said it appears that the signature in the LRTA Inspection and Acceptance Report was forged, facilitating the switch of equipment.

The PACC also highlighted irregularities in the purchase of escalators for the LRT 2 stations.

The LRTA had ordered escalators with a required capacity of 9,000 persons per hour, but the escalators that were delivered can only accommodate 6,000 persons per hour.

The escalators also broke down long before the expiration of the two-year warranty period.

Seven individuals were set to face charges for violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3109, also known as the “Anti- Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.” They were engineer Julito Bernales, Rodger Ravelo and Jorge Mendoza of the Procurement Service of the DBM; a certain Noralyn Salvador, who signed a report that states Kempal delivered brand new CRRC rerailing equipment; as well as LRTA staff Romel Correa, Cesar Legaspi and Robert Ruiz.

Cabrera said he was not aware if the LRTA management had received a copy of the PACC findings.

“Without the official copy, I would say we cannot officially and properly act,” he said when asked if the involved LRTA staff would be relieved.

PACC chief Dante Jimenez said on Friday the commission would forward its findings on the LRT 2 equipment procurement to a special task force headed by the Department of Justice (DoJ).

PACC is a member of the task force along with the National Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Special Assistant to the President, the National Prosecution Service, the DoJ Office of Cybercrime and the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

“We cannot allow this to happen as we all are in pursuit against all forms of graft and corruption as directed by the President,” Jimenez told The Times, referring to the questionable LRT 2 purchases.