Ombudsman asks Czech envoy to talk on MRT

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman had asked Czech Ambassador Josef Rychtar to shed more light on his allegations of extortion against Metro Rail Transit (MRT) general manager Al Vitangcol.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said the anti-graft agency is reiterating its invitation to the envoy who had earlier declined the request.

Rychtar was sought to provide more information on the alleged attempt by MRT officials to extort money from the Czech company Inekon Group, reportedly in exchange for the contract to supply trains to the MRT system.

The Office of the Ombudsman said the latest letter signed by Morales on April 8 was sent to the ambassador yesterday.

In July 2013, Morales initiated a field investigation on the matter based on a July 19, 2013 news report of The STAR entitled “DOTC execs tagged in $30-million shakedown.”

Morales created a special panel of ombudsman investigators on July 24 tasked to gather evidence and look into other possible leads not mentioned in the news article.

Rychtar had previously declined to be interviewed when requested through a letter dated July 26, 2013 issued by the Assets Investigation Bureau (AIB) of the Office of the Ombudsman.

To date, the special panel has gathered pertinent documents from government agencies in relation to its investigation.

Earlier this week, Malacañang appealed to the public for calm and sobriety while waiting for the results of a separate probe being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation.

“We are just waiting for the NBI to finish its process, which has already been explained by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said.

Suit against Czech envoy

The controversial Czech ambassador is now facing a criminal and damage suit.

Rychtar has been accused of libel by Roehl Bacar, president of Comm Builders and Technology Philippines (CB&T), whom he had tagged as “among the people involved in a cooked joint venture that transferred the maintenance of MRT from contractor Sumitomo to CB&T.”

Bacar said he filed the libel complaint before the Mandaluyong Prosecutor’s Office last Tuesday based on the ambassador’s accusing statement published in a report of another newspaper last April 5, which cited the affidavit submitted by Rychtar to the House committee on good government and public accountability.

Apart from Rychtar, Bacar also named the editor-in-chief of the newspaper that published the article in his suit.

He asked for damages amounting to P30 million from them as well as their criminal prosecution.

Rychtar claimed that the transfer of maintenance operations to CB&T and another firm, PH Trams, was “backed by the highest Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) officials and some politicians.”

The envoy also reportedly said in his affidavit that he received two sets of “white papers” detailing in “precise terms a fraud organized for the new coaches bidding by persons from the private sector as well as from state institutions” and the “technical parameters of the scam inside the Terms of Reference of the Bidding.”

Bacar, he alleged, was implicated in these “white papers.”

But in a five-page complaint-affidavit, a copy of which was given to reporters in the Department of Justice, Bacar belied the allegations, which he said were concocted to destroy his honesty and integrity and discredit his reputation as a businessman.

“It is evident that there is no truth to the allegations considering the fact that if indeed I am connected with influential government official as claimed, I would have used the same influence to win the September 2013 bidding of the one-year maintenance provision for which CB&T was disqualified for a minor matter due to strict rules of the Department of Transportation and Communications relative to the subject project,” he said.

“Everything he said is a lie. I would never claim I have connections to high-ranking government officials,” he added in a phone interview.

Bacar said he and Rychtar were able to talk during a social function but their conversation circled only on their hobbies and Filipino women. “I didn’t tell him I am influential,” he said. – With Edu Punay