Poe: Why was Abaya not charged over MRT contract?

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Grace Poe raised a concern yesterday on why the Office of the Ombudsman did not include Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya in the filing of criminal charges before the Sandiganbayan over the anomalous maintenance contract for the Metro Rail Transit 3.

“Since Secretary Abaya signed and approved the contract, I am a little bit surprised that he doesn’t have liabilities whatsoever,” Poe said. “In any case, I hope this serves as warning to government officials that corrupt practices and illegal motives will not be condoned.” 

Abaya is the secretary general of the Liberal Party, which is backing the presidential bid of former interior secretary Manuel Roxas II.

Poe, who chairs the Senate subcommittee on transportation that led an inquiry into the state of the MRT, expressed her opinion that the highest officials of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) should also be held liable. 

Poe, however, welcomed the filing of charges against former MRT-3 general manager Al Vitangcol III and five others who were charged over the anomalous maintenance contract for the MRT system.

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

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

The Office of the Ombudsman filed graft charges against Vitangcol before the Sandiganbayan after finding probable cause that he conspired with PH Trams incorporators for the awarding of the $11.5-million maintenance contract without public bidding. Five PH Trams executives were also charged. 

The 39-page resolution stated that Vitangcol acted in “evident bad faith, manifest partiality, or gross inexcusable negligence” to give the unwarranted advantage to PH Trams and joint venture partner Comm Builders and Technology Philippines Corp. 

Vitangcol’s uncle-in-law was an executive at PH Trams, a fact that would have automatically disqualified the company from participating in the bidding. 

“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,” Poe said.