A TOP leader of the ruling Liberal Party on Thursday admitted LP president and Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya is turning out to be a “weak point” in the presidential bid of standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II because of various controversies over the train system.
“I will admit that [Abaya] is our weak point,” said Caloocan Rep. Edgardo Erice, who heads the LP committee for political and electoral affairs, told The Standard.
Erice said the LP is aware of the public criticism of Abaya, but he said it was only because of the recurring problems of Metro Manila’s train system and traffic situation.
“But we know the truth, I know that he is doing the right thing and he is not bending over [for] the syndicates in the MRT,” Erice said in an interview at the Liberal Party headquarters in Quezon City.
“I admit that the MRT really has problems. But it should be made clear to the people that the Daang Matuwid [Straight Path] didn’t create the problems. We are doing everything to resolve the problem,” Erice added.
Erice said party leaders are aware that Roxas’ numbers are “weakest in the National Capital Region” because of the controversies “on traffic and the MRT.”
“We hope that those in Metro Manila will understand that the government is doing everything to solve these traffic woes. I know that those in Metro Manila are smart enough to choose the ‘straight’ over ‘crooked’ ones,” he added.
Lately, another controversy arose over the train system’s maintenance contractors after the German-Filipino consortium that was contracted to repair parts of the train last March filed a complaint before the Ombudsman against several officials of the DOTC, including Abaya.
The Schunk Bahn UND-Industrietechnik Gmbh and Comm Builders and Technology Phils. Corp. said in their complaint that the DOTC refused pay them.
Last week, a Korean-Filipino firm—the Busan Transportation Corp.—was awarded the maintenance contract, but they backed out because of legal problems that may arise because of the lawsuit by the German-Filipino consortium.
Abaya was again criticized after he said it did not matter if the Busan Transportation Corp. was awarded the public transportation contract although it did not meet requirement of 15-year experience in the rail industry.
However, on Wednesday, the DOTC’s bids and awards committee extended the one-year contract of the SBI-CB&T Philippines joint venture by one month for P21 million.
Abaya, in an interview yesterday, denied that the Korean firm backed out of the maintenance deal. “They haven’t backed out. In fact, they are serious in rendering the services and sharing their expertise. The DOTC has been discussing with them for the last two days,” Abaya said.
The incident led presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public safety, to call on President Benigno Aquino to fire Abaya for his supposed incompetence.
But Erice also took a jab at Poe and said she should not use the MRT and the Mamasapano massacre as election issues because she did not understand the issues.
“Grace Poe doesn’t know what she’s saying. When the MRT was still being built, she was not in the Philippines. She was an American that time,” he said.
“No one has a problem with that issues except Senator Poe,” Erice said. “She has no one to blame but herself. She filled up her certificate of candidacy. She’s the one who changed her statements over time. She has nobody to blame.”
“If she wants to be a candidate, she must face all of these obstacles to her [presidential] bid instead of pointing fingers at others,” the congressmen said.
Erice also advised former MRT-3 general manager Al Vitangcol to “file a complaint” against Abaya after he tagged the DOTC chief for approving questionable maintenance contracts for the commuter train system.
“Well, there is already a case. If he sees that Secretary Abaya has culpability, he might as well he file a counter suit.”