Vitangcol should spill beans, says Escudero

Former Metro Rail Transit 3 General Manager Al Vitangcol should tell all he knows about the P517-million maintenance service contract for the railway system that is the subject of a graft case against him, Sen. Francis Escudero said.

Vitangcol had complained that he was made the “sacrificial lamb” in the case, and stressed that he was not the final approving authority for the deal.  He pointed to the Department of Transportation and Communication as the agency that awarded the contract.

When the contract was being negotiated, it was Mar Roxas who was the DOTC secretary. When the time came to sign the deal, Joseph Emilio Abaya was the department chief.

The Office of the Ombudsman cleared Abaya of liability because he was newly appointed when he signed the deal.

Vitangcol was indicted after it was found that one of the incorporators of the company that won the contract, Philippine Trams Rail Management and Service Corp. (PH Trams), was an uncle of his wife’s.

Vitangcol has maintained that the contract was aboveboard.

Escudero said Vitangcol should disclose the “extent of the culpability of the other DOTC officials in the anomalous contract that they left Vitangcol high and dry to claim responsibility for.”

“Mr. Vitangcol should not be afraid to speak up. Why sacrifice yourself, your career, your life, your family name when you know that there were others behind this questionable deal? He should come clean and reveal everything he knows,” the senator, who is running for Vice President, said in a statement.

He noted of Vitangcol’s statement that an “emissary” had promised help from his principals and assured him the case would be dismissed, but he (Vitangcol) was later left on his own.

According to Escudero, “there could be no one else who could wield power and influence above Vitangcol with possible links to the maintenance contract other than Roxas and Abaya.”

Escudero said the former MRT 3 general manager should “blow the whistle” now because “the longer he keeps the information to himself, the more chances he gives other parties to cover their tracks.”

Whistle-blowers play a key role in uncovering anomalies, he said.

“That’s why Vitangcol has nothing to worry about or fear. The whistle-blower system is now well-entrenched, recognized and protected so he can be assured of his and his family’s well- being,” he said.

Escudero is running in tandem with Sen. Grace Poe.

Abaya is an ally of Roxas, the Liberal Party standard bearer and Poe’s rival for the presidency.