Ex-MRT chief, 5 others indicted for graft

FORMER Metro Rail Transit (MRT) general manager Al Vitangcol III and five others have been charged with graft before the Sandiganbayan for an allegedly anomalous maintenance contract for MRT-3 (Edsa line) awarded in 2012.

But the Ombudsman excluded Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and other transportation officials who oversaw the MRT’s operations.

The Ombudsman accused Vitangcol of conspiring with and gave undue preference to Philippine Trans Rail Management and Services Corp. (PH Trans) officials to bag an interim maintenance contract for MRT-3 worth $1.5 million a month.

The Ombudsman alleged that Vitangcol awarded the contract even if PH Trans was deemed disqualified under the government procurement law since the former MRT manager was related by affinity to one of the directors.

According to the Ombudsman, Vitangcol intentionally concealed that one of the directors of PH Trans was his uncle-in-law to ensure the award of the contract to PH Trans which entered into a joint venture with Comm Builders and Technology Philippines Inc. (CB&T) for the project.

Also charged with graft were PH Trans incorporators Wilson De Vera, Marlo Dela Cruz, Manolo Maralit, Federico Remo and Vitangcol’s uncle-in-law, Arturo Soriano, currently the provincial accountant of Pangasinan.

The MRT management entered into an interim maintenance contract with PH Trans in joint venture with CB&T in October 2012, after deciding not to renew the contract with original maintenance provider Sumitomo Corp.

The bids and awards committee did not conduct a public bidding and decided to negotiate with an interim maintenance provider for six months.

The contract was renewed three times until Sept. 4, 2013.

The MRT-3 which traverses Edsa has been beset by operational malfunctions on top of delays, long queues and packed trains that more than half a million daily commuters using MRT-3 have to contend with daily.

Vitangcol was relieved from his post last May 2014 after an extortion controversy where he and De Vera were accused of extorting $30 million from the Inekon Group in exchange for a P3.7-billion contract to supply 48 coaches for the MRT-3 expansion.