(Eagle News) – Malacanang has directed the Office of the Solicitor General to study the filing of plunder cases against officials of the previous administration for the MRT-3 mess, even as it sought to put in place short-term solutions, such as the immediate procurement of all needed spare parts for the Metro Rail Transit system.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced this in a press briefing, explaining the “three-tiered solution” that was discussed during a March 5 cabinet meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte.
Roque said the Palace has identified a three-tier solution to fix the train line’s operations, which had been plagued by frequent breakdowns and numerous glitches.
The Spokesperson said a short-term solution discussed during the Cabinet meeting was the procurement of all necessary spare parts for MRT-3, whereas the medium-term solution was to enter into a maintenance contract with the original contractor, Sumitomo Corporation.
Roque also disclosed that the President is eyeing to file new plunder charges against officials of the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III over the MRT mess, particularly for awarding the maintenance contract to a company that has “absolutely no track record.”
The Spokesperson said that the company to which the contract was previously awarded failed to deliver on its obligation to repair MRT-3’s 26 coaches.
“They only delivered two; and they even supplied the wrong signaling system,” he pointed out.
“There was a decision that cases will be pursued for those behind the miserable performance of MRT-3,” Roque said. The President instructed Solicitor General Jose Calida to study the matter, he further announced.
“But in any case, that’s just part of the solution. Accountability is part of the solution,” Roque added, as he assured the public that the current government has now taken steps to improve the train line’s operations.
The filing of new plunder cases is in addition to the cases filed by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) in November 2017 before the Office of the Ombudsman against former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and former Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio “Jun” Abaya over the reported anomalous maintenance contract for the MRT-3.
The DOTr claimed that Roxas and Abaya were involved in the P3.8 million MRT maintenance contract of the government with Korean contractor, Busan Universal Rail, Inc. (BURI).
BURI allegedly had no track record and failed to deliver its contract obligations in the MRT-3.
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“I think we know already that it includes the former Transportation secretary, that includes even Mr. Mar Roxas, it includes Budget Secretary Butch Abad and among others. This is for the award of the contract to a company with absolutely no track record; a company that was obligated to repair 26 coaches and they only delivered two; and they even supplied the wrong signaling system,” Roque explained.
The Palace spokesperson said that the government had already concluded the survey of what needed to be done to address the MRT-3 problem.
“They have concluded already the survey of what needs to be done. And from what I understand, Sumitomo found out that it was worse than they expected,” Roque said, adding that the Japanese firm already came up with a fixed timetable to rehabilitate MRT-3.
Roque confirmed that there is now an existing government-to-government agreement between the Philippines and Japan, which enables the country to rehire Sumitomo’s services for the maintenance of the train line.
The Palace official stressed that the government’s long-term solution would be to change the ownership of the MRT-3 Corporation, which he said “appears to have contributed to the problem.”
“As you know, the ownership of MRT-3 is a private corporation. So, they are thinking of changing the owners because we have had many problems with the current owners,” he said.
(Eagle News Service with a PCO report)
