Mar Roxas expects Malacañang support as DoTC head

MANILA, Philippines—Former Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II expects to be given a free hand in running the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) with the support—and not the intervention—of Malacañang.

This includes being able to discipline his own men and women whose actions may not be in line with his plans for the biggest department in the government’s executive branch.

“My only requirement for people under me is that they must demonstrate the ability to deliver our objectives,” Roxas said in a chance interview on Monday.

President Aquino’s defeated running mate replaced Jose “Ping” de Jesus, who resigned after just a year in office, last week.

De Jesus, who cited personal reasons for his departure, reportedly resigned due to disagreements and the lack of support on certain issues with the President.

Malacañang allegedly ignored De Jesus’ calls to discipline Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Virginia Torres, who was recently involved in an intra-corporate dispute with the agency’s information technology (IT) provider Stradcom Corp.

Roxas, president of the ruling Liberal Party, said he expects the President to support his decisions as head of the DoTC, stressing that this would be the only way for the DoTC to deliver real reforms.

“The President has been very supportive… and that is what I expect,” Roxas said, while still emphasizing that he still served at the pleasure of Malacañang.

“It’s up to the President to put me where he wants to,” Roxas said.

Roxas said he would focus on four areas as head of the department, namely the smooth operations of all forms of mass transport, integration of the country’s fragmented transportation system, development of “greenfield” or new possible infrastructure projects, and getting the government out of “problematic” contracts.

He said he would pick up where former secretary De Jesus left off, particularly on the renegotiation or cancellation of big-ticket infrastructure projects such as the Greater Maritime Access (GMA) Ports and the North Luzon Railways Corp., or NorthRail, contracts.

“We cannot let these projects proceed if these are problematic,” Roxas said. “We have to either renegotiate or terminate,” he said, adding that he and the DoTC would be ready for any lawsuit that the two projects’ contractors might bring against the government.

French consortium Eiffel Matiere SAS has said it would sue the government before international arbitration courts if the P11.8-billion GMA Ports contract is scrapped. A DoTC review earlier this year found that the project was too expensive and, for the most part, did not fit into the country’s needs.

Meanwhile, Roxas said that several anomalies were also found in the NorthRail contract. Aside from its design being severely flawed, the cost of the project was increased significantly while the work required from its Chinese contractor Sinomach was reduced, he said.

Both projects are funded using overseas development assistance (ODA) loans, which are a result of government-to-government negotiations. This means canceling either contract would have diplomatic consequences, Roxas said.

“I cannot control what they do,” Roxas said.