GRAFT CASE FILED VS. EX-LTO OFFICIALS
Ombud sues Abaya, 16 others over MRT 3 maintenance contract
The Office of the Ombudsman yesterday said it found probable cause to charge former transportation secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and 16 others for graft and corruption over the MRT Line 3 maintenance contract.
The case stemmed from the allegedly anomalous P3.8-billion maintenance contract awarded to the Busan joint venture ( JV). Despite the procurement of Busan JV’s services, MRT3 is plagued by frequent glitches in its power supply and signalling system, causing inconvenience to thousands of commuters.
In a statement, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said that Abaya will be charged with violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019).
Others who will be charged are Department of Transportation (DOTr) Undersecretaries Edwin Lopez, Rene Limcaoco (head of the negotiating team) and Catherine Jennifer Francis Gonzales (vice-head, negotiating team); MRT3 general manager Roman Buenafe, Camille Alcaraz (assistant secretary for procurement), Ofelia Astrera (vice-chairperson, MRT3 Bids and Awards Committee), Charissa Eloisa Julia Opulencia (Attorney V), Oscar Bongon (chief, Engineering Division) and Jose Rodante Sabayle (Engineer III).
Charges will also be filed against Eldonn Ferdinand Uy of Edison Development and Construction, Elizabeth Velasco of Tramat Mercantile Inc., Belinda Tan of TMI Corp., Inc., Brian Velasco of Castan Corp., and Antonio Borromeo, Jun Ho Hwang and Elpidio Uy from Busan Universal Rail, Inc. (BURI).
Edison Development, Tramat, TMI, Castan and BURI compose the Busan JV, which was awarded in January 2016 the maintenance contract for MRT Line 3.
The Busan JV was among three entities that submitted proposals during the Oct. 21, 2015 bidding. All three proposals then were found to be “deficient in their eligibility and technical documents and were given the opportunity to cure the defect.”
After a week, Busan JV was declared as the sole eligible entity. The DOTr, MRT3 and Busan JV signed the maintenance contract on Jan. 7, 2016.
The contract included the overhauling of 43 units of light rail vehicles (LRVs).
Ombudsman investigators cited the Commission on Audit’s Consolidated Annual Audit Report (CAAR) for 2016, which said 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.”
“Despite four years in the procurement process and total payments of P527,761,083.00 (equivalent to 14% of the contract price) to Dalian, the LRVs remain inoperational and unaccepted by the DOTr as of reporting date due to glitches in the power supply and signaling system. These resulted from the DOTr’s poor planning and other major procurement lapses,” state auditors added.