Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya over the weekend dismissed as mere “propaganda” the string of allegations made by former Metro Rail Transit-3 General Manager Al Vitangcol that Abaya had the lion’s share in kickbacks for the procurement of “engine-less” Chinese-made train sets for the beleaguered mass transport system.
“I don’t have a hand at these contracts and I will personally investigate these accusations. Once we knew all of these, you give them the full force of the law because this is clearly in the violation of the law, in violation of the daang matuwid,” Abaya said in a television interview.
“It’s just propaganda, short to say, it’s just a web of lies because you can see, the second train sets are already in the pier, and by Sunday you can see if it really has engines,” he added.
In a letter to Abaya, Vitangcol alleged his former boss at the DoTC to have received a five-percent kickback amounting to P192.5 billion from the government’s P3.85 billion’s purchase of 48 commuter train coaches from Chinese state firm Dalian Corp.
Abaya also refuted Vitangcol’s claims that the new coaches from Dalian were all “engine-less” in contract breach with the terms of reference signed by Abaya’s Undersecretary for Legal Affairs in the DoTC, Jose Perpetuo Lotilla.
On Sunday, Abaya inspected two of the new Chinese-built coaches that were placed by technicians on the MRT-3 Taft Avenue stations tracks and were brought to the MRT-3 depot at North Avenue in Quezon City for further tests.
Abaya said the new coaches will undergo a 5,000-kilometer test run. Its traction motors and brake systems will also be tested until February.
The MRT-3’s Capacity Expansion Project has two parts. Under Lot 1 of the CAPEX Project, the DoTC will acquire 48 LRVs that will then use 4-car trains that arrive every 2.5 minutes in MRT stations. Lot 2, meanwhile, includes the electro-mechanical works to sync the new LRVs with the existing communication and signaling system of the MRT.
The transportation chief said that two more batches of LRVs will be delivered by March.
Once the deliveries are completed by March, the MRT-3 may be able to run a full train by the first quarter of the year, he added.
MRT-3’s operating capacity would increase by 67 percent once all 48 LRVs become operational by next year, Abaya claimed.
Critics of Abaya questioned the new Chinese built coaches which were towed last year from LRT-1’s Baclaran Station to MRT-3’s North Avenue, the reason simply because they were “engineless.”
Abaya in defense, said that the new MRT train coaches “had engines”, adding that Vitangcol “weaved a web of lies to destroy his reputation and because the election season is fast approaching.”
He also refuted claims that the government must now spend an extra P2-billion to buy the motors for the recently acquired MRT 3 trains, apart from talks that Abaya”•as LP president”•may be using DOTC for party fundraising for LP bets.
Abaya said that he already ordered an “internal investigation” within the DOTC to look on Vitangcol’s claims, adding that he would forward his letter to Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales to study possible charges that can be filed against erring officials and employees who were named in his letter.
The embattled transport chief also scored presidential aspirant Senator Grace Poe, who asked President Benigno Aquino III to fire him from his post as Transportation chief.
“She’s always entitled to her opinion. Again I’m saying that it’s a privilege to serve and as I’ve said, I will only serve under President Benigno Aquino III,” he added.