Poe disappointed after Ombudsman spared Abaya of graft charges  

Sen. Grace Poe (left) is disappointed that the Ombudsman spared Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya (right) of graft charges related to alleged anomalies in a maintenance contract of the MRT 3. JOSEPH VIDAL/PRIB

Senator Grace Poe expressed disappointment that the Ombudsman did not include Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and other top transport officials in the graft charges it filed before the Sandiganbayan over an allegedly anomalous maintenance contract in the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT 3).

Poe said Abaya should be held liable as he signed the supposedly anomalous contract.

“Since Secretary Abaya signed and approved the contract, I am a little bit surprised that he doesn’t have liabilities whatsoever.”

“In any case, I hope this serves as a warning to government officials that corrupt practices and illegal motives will not be condoned,” Poe said in a statement issued on Sunday.

While disappointed in the exclusion of Abaya and other officials, the presidential preference poll frontrunner still praised the Ombudsman for filing graft charges against former MRT 3 general manager Al Vitangcol III and five other officials for an anomalous maintenance contract worth $1.5 million per month.

“I thank the Ombudsman for siding with the 600,000 daily commuters of the MRT who continue to suffer and endure bad service. We will monitor the progress of the case until justice is served,” the senator said.

The Ombudsman charged Vitangcol for awarding the maintenance contract for MRT 3 to Philippine Trans Rail Management and Services Corp. (PH Trams) without public bidding.

It was found that one of the incorporators of PH Trams, Arturo Soriano, was the uncle of Vitangcol’s wife.

In a 39-page resolution, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales found probable cause to charge Vitangcol and PH Trams incorporators Soriano, Wilson de Vera, Marlo dela Cruz, Manolo Maralit, and Federico Remo in violation of Sections 3(e) and 3(h) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Section 65(c)(1) of the Government Procurement Reform Act.

On Friday, December 4, Vitangcol posted bail amounting P90,000 for the three counts of graft filed against him before the Sandiganbayan.