MRT coaches from China ‘chop-chop’ — Poe

MANILA, Philippines -  Senators are appalled that the coaches for the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) ordered by the Aquino administration were “chop-chop” vehicles or just haphazardly put together from parts provided by different suppliers.

Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the public services committee, said officials of the previous administration lied before senators when they repeatedly gave assurance that the coaches from Dalian Locomotive Inc., costing P3.8 billion, would be immediately put to service when they arrived last year.

“I’m vexed, I’m angry along with our countrymen… they (officials) gave guarantees many times but they were all lies,” Poe said.

“They (officials of the defunct Department of Transportation and Communications) are the original ‘chop-chop’ people,” she said, using street slang for stolen vehicles broken down into parts and then sold.

She said what was provided by Dalian, which she stressed had no experience manufacturing commuter coaches, were only the bare trains.

The motors were sourced from Germany while the signaling system was provided by a South Korean firm, she said.

Since there are still lacking or incompatible parts from the different suppliers, the trains cannot be used by the MRT-3, the senator lamented.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, vice chairman of the panel, expressed strong suspicions that anomalies may have accompanied the acquisition of the coaches.

Ejercito said he was surprised the previous administration replaced Sumitomo Corp. of Japan with other companies with no track record as MRT-3’s maintenance provider when the firm had been servicing the train system for the past several years without any accidents.

“Either there was something fishy in that move or just plain incompetence,” the senator said.