LRTA 'has too many consultants'

MANILA, Philippines - The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) reportedly retains the services of as many as 36 consultants, sources said yesterday.

Documents obtained by The Star showed that the LRTA only serves as supervising agency over the LRT Lines 1 and 2 and the operation and maintenance of the two rail lines are already outsourced to private engineering contractors.

LRTA sources said a number of the consultants are provincemates of LRTA administrator Rafael Rodriguez, who was a Cavite provincial board member before his appointment to the LRTA.

Insiders said 14 of the 36 consultants held newly created positions and – for an agency that should have more engineers than lawyers – 11 are “legal consultants.”

LRTA corporate secretary and spokesman Hernando Cabrera – one of the 11 legal consultants in the agency’s latest official plantilla of positions – refused to confirm the current number of consultants retained by the LRTA but admitted that regional and religious affiliations of previous LRTA administrators and their alleged tendency to bring in people from these affiliations have been an issue in the past.

“That is typical,” Cabrera said, noting that during the time of previous LRTA administrator Mel Robles, there were allegations that he hired many people belonging to the El Shaddai, and during the time of previous administrator Teodoro Cruz III, who hails from Camarines Sur, there was an issue that he brought in many people from the Bicol region.