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DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines—A Pangasinan politician and businessman has threatened to file a libel case against Czech Ambassador Josef Rychtar for “maliciously” accusing him of attempting to extort money last year from a Czech train company vying to win the contract for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 capacity expansion project.
“It’s not true that I tried to ask money from them,” the United States-based Wilson de Vera said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
In an affidavit he executed on Dec. 2, 2013, at the Philippine consulate in San Francisco, California, De Vera described as a “figment of wild imagination” the $30 million that Rychtar alleged De Vera had attempted to extort from Inekon, the Czech manufacturer of train coaches.
The ambassador has accused MRT general manager Al Vitangcol III of using De Vera to demand that Inekon pay $30 million to win the contract to supply 48 new coaches for the MRT in 2012.
Josef Husek, Inekon CEO and chair, confirmed the alleged extortion attempt, and he and Rychtar have submitted sworn statements to the National Bureau of Investigation.
De Vera is a director of PH Trams, a partner of the PH Trams-CB&T joint venture that is the temporary maintenance contractor of the MRT 3.
He is also a member of the ruling Liberal Party who ran and lost in the mayoral race in Calasiao town, Pangasinan province, in the midterm elections last year.
“Maybe, we could have a polygraph test to put a rest and settle this libelous issue once and for all,” he said in the phone interview.
Mainly exploratory
De Vera explained that he did meet with the Czech group but only to explore the possibility of a business opportunity for his company, PH Trams, as the local partner of Inekon.
In his affidavit, De Vera said he met with Inekon executives and Rychtar twice on July 9 and 10, 2012, with each meeting lasting about two hours.
The first meeting, he said, was held at Carpaccio Ristorante in Makati City. Aside from Rychtar, the dinner was attended by Inekon CEO Husek, Vitangcol, PH Trams chair Marlo de la Cruz, PH Trams director Manolo Maralit and himself.
Immediately after dinner, De Vera said, the group, minus Vitangcol and De la Cruz, went to Rychtar’s house at Forbes Park, where they talked over coffee with Inekon public relations coordinator Yorgus Psinakis and Inekon chief operating officer Milan Haloun.
“Here, we talked about the MRT project in general and based on what is already being talked about publicly … on the MRT 3 expansion project,” De Vera said.
He said he could not have tried to extort $30 million from the Czechs because before meeting with Inekon officials, he did not have any information on the project’s details, such as the bidding schedule and terms of reference.
De Vera denied he was Vitangcol’s “emissary” or that he had demanded money on behalf of Vitangcol.
“I was invited to and eventually attended that meeting … to see if there’s a potential business opportunity [for PH Trams] and if ever we could be a local partner of this foreign group,” De Vera said.
“It is more of exploratory in nature. Our group was invited to meet with [Rychtar] and [representatives of the] Inekon group due to the close relationship of one of the directors of PH Trams, Manolo Maralit, with Rychtar,” he said.
De Vera said that during the meeting, they discussed the project’s business potential.
“Naturally, I talked straight and asked them what would be in store/share for PH Trams if in case they will accept PH Trams as their local partner in the Philippines,” De Vera said.
“At this instance, [Husek] mentioned [that the] price … is valued at more or less $3 million per LRV (light rail vehicle) and he also mentioned that for our group (PH Trams), we could add $50,000 per car on top of their price,” he said.
Upon hearing this, De Vera said he knew the proposed business partnership would never prosper because the Czechs’ price was “way too high” compared to the standard price of less than $2 million per LRV.
“Imagine, with their cost of more or less $3 million and you still add $50,000 for PH Trams, it is really going nowhere. What I don’t like was the way they treated PH Trams and myself as a ride-on, or in [Filipino], ‘sabit lang,’ if we look at their proposed business-sharing proposal,” De Vera said.
On insinuations that he was observed several times talking on the phone outside Rychtar’s house, De Vera said he had to answer the calls from his wife and his political leaders in Calasiao, where he was then organizing his machinery for his mayoral bid.
“Again, as I’ve said, the meeting was just exploratory, casual business talk and the discussion was going nowhere … and I had to answer my personal calls as it was already getting late,” he said.
“Finally, as there was nothing clear or potential, we ended that meeting with me saying ‘thank you’ to the host, His Excellency, Ambassador Josef Rychtar,” he said.
Not in hiding
According to De Vera, a second meeting took place on July 10, 2012, in Vitangcol’s office where the discussion focused on the technical aspects of the project and its maintenance.
He said it was the last time he talked with and saw the Czech and Inekon officials.
De Vera said he had not gone into hiding.
In the phone interview, he said he had just arrived in the United States from a business trip to Beijing.
“Why should I hide here? I’m a permanent resident of the United States and my children have been studying here. My wife also works here,” De Vera said.
He said he had been consulting his lawyer about whether he should appear in the Senate and House investigations of the controversy.
The NBI is still studying what charges to file against those implicated in the alleged MRT extortion attempt as no money actually changed hands, according to a source privy to the investigation.
“All were allegations of extortion, but there was no actual money involved, what charges to file is still being studied,” said the source who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak to the media.
The source also confirmed that the Czech ambassador had submitted a signed affidavit linking Vitangcol to the alleged extortion.
The source also said Vitangcol had stated in his sworn statement that he never attended a dinner with Rychtar. “He maintained he only met the ambassador in his office,” the source said.
The source also said Rychtar had agreed to waive his diplomatic immunity in principle, “but had yet to get clearance from his government.”
“We just want him to categorically state his capacity as complainant, a diplomat or an official of Inekon,” the source added.—With a report from Nancy C. Carvajal