Graft complaint filed against Abaya, 6 others

Former Department of Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya. Joseph Vidal/PRIB

Three anticorruption groups counseled by former Metro Rail Transit Line 3 general manager Al Vitangcol III have filed a graft complaint against former Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya over the “non-operational” Chinese train coaches bought in 2014.

The groups — Anti-Trapo Movement, Liga ng Eksplosibong Pagbabago, and United Filipino Consumers and Commuters — accused Abaya and six other officials of graft and corruption for entering into the allegedly disadvantageous P3.77-billion deal.

MRT-3 officer in charge Deo Leo Manalo, director for operations at the time, is the only incumbent official named as respondent in the complaint.

In an 11-page complaint filed in the Office of the Ombudsman, the groups said the 48 coaches delivered by Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co. Ltd. were “unusable because of several deficiencies.”

The complaint noted the lack of a signaling system installed in the coaches, which meant Dalian failed to comply with the technical specifications of the bid documents.

“Dalian proved itself to be not technically capable of delivering the goods it was contracted to manufacture. Respondents, for one reason or another, turned a blind eye on Dalian’s technical deficiencies,” the complaint read.

The groups said it was evident that additional funds would be needed just to retrofit the Dalian-made coaches to make them operational.

Also named respondents were former Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) bids and awards committee chair Jose Perpetuo Lotilla, former BAC secretariat overall head Catherine Jennifer Gonzales, former BAC members Rene Limcaoco and Julianito Bucayan, and former project implementation team head Roman Buenafe.