We have mixed reactions to the inclusion of former Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and six other transport officials in the graft suit in connection with the purchase of P3.8 billion worth of license plates during his stay at the department.
First, a sense of bewilderment. After all, it was lawyer Al Vitangcol, the former general manager of the Metro Rail Transit, who led the inclusion of Abaya’s name in the case which only previously included the names of the private suppliers. Strange however that Vitangcol should take an active role now—did not the Sandiganbayan recently issue a warrant of arrest against him for attempt to extort $30 million from representatives of a Czech manufacturer of rail cars so they could bag the deal for the MRT?
Vitangcol is hardly the paragon of virtue or the personification of good governance. In fact, Abaya was his boss at the Transport Department. We wonder what the extent of the animosity between the two is, such that Vitangcol would take steps to ensure his former superior—would not go scot-free. Perhaps he felt betrayed that he was made a sacrificial lamb of sorts in the Inekon case just so the higher-ups like Abaya and, ultimately, Benigno Aquino III, could evade accountability.
Second, relief. We do not remember Abaya fondly. In fact, the millions who continue to be plagued by the sorry state of traffic and public transportation wish there were some way to go after Abaya for all his indifference, incompetence, hypocrisy and arrogance while he was at his post. The transport system did not just stagnate during the regime of Daang Matuwid—it deteriorated. This can only be the result of criminal negligence, at the very least.
Finally, hope.
We are aware that the wheels of justice turn ever so slowly in this country, and that even the filing of cases in courts does not guarantee that the guilty will be made to pay. Nonetheless, we have seen definitive changes in the past few months—some more drastic than we ever dared imagine, and not always for the better.
We have no other recourse but to hope that this time the evidence would be sufficient, the case airtight.