Ebdane, Vitangcol indicted for graft

By: Dona Z. Pazzibugan - 9 years ago

EBDANE ROBERT GONZAGA/INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales on Friday indicted former Metro Rail Transit (MRT) General Manager Al Vitangcol III for graft over an anomalous maintenance contract for MRT 3 (Edsa line) in 2012, and Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. for graft and usurpation of official functions, for illegally issuing small-scale mining permits to the detriment of a mining operator.

Officials of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) led by Secretary Joseph Abaya were, however, spared since the anomalous contract was handled by the MRT management, according to Assistant Ombudsman Asryman Rafanan.

Morales said Vitangcol used his authority to forego public bidding in awarding a maintenance contract worth $1.5 million a month to a firm whose incorporators included a relative of his wife.

Also facing graft charges are Philippine Trans Rail Management and Services Corp. (PH Trams) incorporators Wilson de Vera, Marlo dela Cruz, Manolo Maralit, Federico Remo and Vitangcol’s uncle-in-law Arturo Soriano, who is currently the provincial accountant of Pangasinan province.

The MRT management entered into an interim maintenance contract with PH Trams in a joint venture with Comm Builders and Technology (CB&T) in October 2012, after deciding not to renew its contract with original maintenance provider, Sumitomo Corp.

No public bidding

But the bids and awards committee (BAC) did not undertake any public bidding, choosing instead to negotiate terms with an interim maintenance provider for six months.

The negotiating team then recommended that the project be awarded to PH Trams-CB&T for $1.15 million monthly. Awarded on Oct. 20, 2012, the contract was renewed three times until Sept. 4, 2013.

Morales said Vitangcol used his power and position as MRT general manager, head of the negotiating team, and BAC member “all in one to dictate” who will be invited for the negotiations on the maintenance contract.

He also “intentionally hid his (affinitive) relationship with Soriano which would have automatically disqualified PH Trams,” the Ombudsman said.

Although Soriano, Vitangcol’s uncle-in-law, claimed that he had divested from PH Trams on Sept. 10, 2012, the Ombudsman found that his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth showed that he was still a stockholder in November 2012.

Ebdane, who was former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s police chief and later, public works secretary, was accused of causing Consolidated Mines Inc. (CMI) to lose P211 million worth of chromite fines from Coto Mines in 2011.

Aside from Ebdane, the Ombudsman also indicted Zambales provincial mining regulatory board (PMRB) member Romelino Gojo and Geoking Asia Mining Corp. representatives Weng Chen, Camilo Esico and three others for theft of minerals under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

Morales upheld the complaint filed by CMI which claimed to have been operating the Coto Mines for more than five decades.

According to CMI’s complaint, Gojo and a group of police officers headed by provincial director Francisco Santiago Jr. forcibly entered the mine premises on Oct. 30, 2011, invoking a small-scale mining permit (SSMP) and other permits signed by Ebdane in favor of Geoking Asia.

The next day, Geoking’s Chen and a group of Chinese nationals escorted by policemen again entered the mine premises and hauled off 12 trucks of chromite fines in November 2011, CMI said.

The Ombudsman said Ebdane usurped the functions of the PMRB when he issued the SSMP, and that Gojo cannot implement such permit.

The police officers were, however, not indicted because they were under orders from the Masinloc mayor to dismantle CMI’s checkpoints, and their alleged participation in hauling the chromite fines was not corroborated, the Ombudsman said.

In a statement, Ebdane disputed the Ombudsman’s findings, saying he had acted lawfully and that he will contest his indictment.

Al Vitangcol III INQUIRER PHOTOS/LYN RILLON

CMI had already questioned the SSMP and lost the case in the Regional Trial Court of Iba, he added.

“As governor of the province of Zambales, I take full responsibility for my actions but I strongly believe that the conclusions reached in the Ombudsman resolution are mistaken. I will then take the appropriate remedy afforded to me by law,” Ebdane’s statement read.

Vitangcol was relieved from his post in May 2014 after a Czech diplomat accused him and De Vera of trying to extort $30 million from Inekon Group in exchange for a P3.7-billion contract to supply 48 coaches for the MRT 3 expansion.

Vitangcol, De Vera and the other PH Trams incorporators will be charged with violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Sections 3e and 3h) and the Government Procurement Reform Act.

The Ombudsman said PH Trams incorporators will also be charged with executing a false affidavit which claimed that none of them are related by affinity to any member of the MRT procurement teams.

In the know: Ebdane Case

In July 2012, Consolidated Mines Inc. (CMI) filed graft charges in the Office of the Ombudsman against Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and other Zambales officials for allowing small-scale miners to take over its mines in the province and to haul off its stockpile of minerals.

CMI president Benicio Eusebio accused Ebdane and other Zambales officials of granting permits to small-scale miners to take over the company’s mines in 2011 and to transport chromite fines, which were left over from 50 years of chromite mining in the company’s Masinloc site.

CMI, a company engaged in the mining, milling and trade of gold, silver, copper and other minerals, said it holds the mineral rights in the area, which was covered by the Coto Chromite Project in Sitio Coto, Masinloc town, known as Coto Mines. Coto Chromite has a mineral production sharing agreement now pending renewal by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

The Central Luzon Environmental Management Bureau said the permits issued by Ebdane to six small-scale mines were invalid and that their owners were operating illegally.

It added that the small-scale miners should not have been operating in the first place because of the lack of environmental clearance.

On July 23, 2013, the Supreme Court granted a temporary environmental protection order requested by 10 Zambales residents who sought a stop to the issuance and use of small-scale mining permits (SSMPs) in their area by Ebdane and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The 10 Masinloc residents filed the 35-page petition on July 17, 2013, saying that Ebdane had issued all 93 SSMPs on July 12, 2011.

In issuing the permits, Ebdane invoked Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1899, but the petitioners said the PD had been repealed by the People’s Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991 or Republic Act No. 7076. Inquirer Research, Source: Inquirer Archives
In the know: Vitangcol Case

In May 2014, Malacañang replaced Metro Rail Transit (MRT) General Manager Al Vitangcol III following allegations of conflict of interest in connection with an $11.5-million (P517-million) maintenance contract. The contract was awarded to Philippine Trans Rail Management and Services Corp. (PH Trams), whose incorporators included Arturo V. Soriano, an uncle of Vitangcol’s wife.

Prior to this, in July 2013, Czech Ambassador to the Philippines Josef Rychtar had accused Vitangcol of extortion for attempting to extort $30 million (about P1.3 billion) from the Czech train manufacturer Inekon Group in exchange for choosing Inekon as the supplier of 48 brand-new trains to the MRT.

In response to both accusations, Vitangcol maintained that his wife’s uncle had divested himself of his stake in PH Trams before it got the maintenance contract. He also denied the extortion charges.

In June 2014, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered an investigation on Vitangcol and businessman Wilson de Vera in the alleged extortion attempt, and for awarding without public bidding the MRT 3 maintenance contract to PH Trams, where De Vera was also an incorporator.

In September 2014, Vitangcol, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and 19 others were charged with graft by the Ombudsman.

The charges stemmed from the December 1997 train maintenance agreement between the MRT Corp. as facility owner, and Sumitomo Corp. The agreement expired in June 2010 but was extended four times until October 2012.

Documents gathered by Ombudsman investigators showed that 15 days before the expiration of the last extension, the bids and awards committee adopted a resolution to get an interim maintenance provider for six months and negotiated its terms and conditions. Inquirer Research, Source: Inquirer Archives