Abaya to check if MRT chief back

MANILA, Philippines - Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya yesterday said he would check if Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC) general manager Al Vitangcol III has indeed reassumed his post.

Vitangcol went on leave last July after he was identified by Czech Republic Ambassador Josef Rychtar as the official involved in an alleged $30-million extortion try.

The MRT chief was reported to have quietly reassumed his post last week, despite advice from Abaya that he extend his 20-day leave.

Abaya, who is in Tokyo, Japan for the three-day Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Transportation Ministers meeting that ended yesterday, told a budget hearing in Congress last Monday that Vitangcol was still on leave.

He said Light Rail Transit Authority administrator Honorito Chaneco remains as MRT officer-in-charge.

“(I) will check,” Abaya said in a text message to The STAR when asked about the leadership situation at the MRT.

Vitangcol has not responded to phone calls and text messages.

Meanwhile, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said yesterday that as far as Malacañang is concerned, Vitangcol is still on leave.

Vitangcol’s reassumption of his post has caused confusion among journalists who have been covering rail line glitches this week.

The LRTA was unable to give incident reports even if Chaneco was supposedly in charge of the EDSA-bound rail line.

The MRT has stopped sending reports and bulletins to the LRTA, DOTC sources said, on Vitangcol’s orders since he was back at the MRTC.

Vitangcol’s insistence to return to work has raised eyebrows at the DOTC.

Sources pointed out that this week was a “crucial” week for the MRT with the awarding by the DOTC of the rail line’s one-year maintenance contract to a new contractor, the Autre Porte Technique (APT) Global Inc. last Monday.

APT Global replaced PH Trams-CB&T joint venture, which has enjoyed two two-month extensions of the original six-month contract it bagged last October.

Some personalities connected to the PH Trams-CB&T joint venture were also named by Rychtar as involved in the alleged extortion attempt, in connivance with Vitangcol.

The Czech government is pushing for a contract for one of its companies, Inekon, to supply trains for the MRT 3 under a government-to-government deal.

Rychtar reportedly said the $30 million was later slashed to $1.5 million as facilitation fee.

With the awarding of the contract to APT Global by the DOTC last Monday, the turnover is expected to be done within the week.