Poe: Abaya should've been charged for anomalous MRT deal

MANILA, Philippines – As chair of the Senate Sub-Committee on Transport, Sen. Grace Poe said she was disappointed and surprised by the exclusion of the Department of Transportation and Communications chief in the list of people charged with graft over the alleged anomalous train maintenance deal.

Although she hailed the Ombudsman for filing case against former Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3) General Manager Al Vitangcol III and five executives of the Philippine Trans Rail Management and Services Corp. (PH Trams), Poe believes the highest officials of DOTC including Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, should also be held liable and be charged with criminal raps in connection with the train’s maintenance contract.

“Since Secretary Abaya signed and approved the contract, I am a little bit surprised that he doesn’t have liabilities whatsoever,” Poe said.

The Ombudsman’s Fact Investigating Office initially included Abaya and other transportation officials in the graft probe. However, the Ombudsman did not find probable cause to indict Abaya during the preliminary investigation. 

On Tuesday, the Ombudsman filed criminal raps before the Sandiganbayan against Vitangcol and PH Trams's Marlo dela Cruz, Wilson de Vera, Manolo Maralit, Federico Remo and Arturo Soriano over graft and corruption. They were accused of violating Section 3(e) of the Republic Act (RA) 3019, or the “Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act ”over the award of an MRT-3 interim maintenance contact without public bidding in 2012.

“I thank the Ombudsman for siding with the 600,000 daily commuters of the MRT who continue to suffer and endure bad service,” Poe said. “We will monitor the progress of the case until justice is served,” she added.   

Poe hopes the filing of criminal raps will serve as a warning to government officials.

“In any case, I hope this serves as a warning to government officials that corrupt practices and illegal motives will not be condoned,” Poe said.

“Moving forward, this should be a compelling reason to have an open transaction policy to curb corrupt practices in bidding and procurement. Accountability measures that can be consistently monitored by stakeholders must be put in place,” she added.