Noy Cabinet men sued for plunder over MRT

MANILA, Philippines — Former interior secretary Manuel Roxas II, eight other Cabinet secretaries of the Aquino administration and 21 officers and private individuals were charged yesterday with plunder and graft for their alleged roles in anomalous transactions relating to the maintenance service contracts of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) system.

All 30 respondents, according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr), from 2012 to 2017 entered into several contracts that led to the plunder of national government coffers and allowed some to enrich themselves.

The DOTr also claimed that these acts are to blame for the problems being encountered by the train system, including accidents, technical glitches and railway issues, among others.

Also charged before the Office of the Ombudsman were former secretaries Joseph Emilio Abaya (transportation), Florencio Abad (budget), Cesar Purisima (finance), Jericho Petilla (energy), Mario Montejo (science), Voltaire Gazmin (defense), Rogelio Singson (public works) and Arsenio Balisacan (economic development). All the secretaries were named in the complaint for being members of the Government Procurement Policy Board. 

The DOTr also implicated former Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) undersecretaries Edwin Lopez, Rene Limcaoco and Catherine Jennifer Gonzales; former MRT-3 general manager Roman Buenafe; former assistant secretary and bids and awards committee chair Camille Alcaraz; and former BAC members Ofelia Astrera, Charissa Eloisa Julia Opulencia, Oscar Bongon, Jose Rodante Sabayle and Maria Cecilia Natividad.

It also charged private individuals Eldonn Ferdinand Uy, Elizabeth Velasco, Belinda Ong Tan, Brian Velasco, Chae-Gue Shim, Antonio Borromeo, Jun Ho Hwang, Elpidio Silverstre Uy, William dela Cruz and Eugene Rapanut of Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI) and Marlo dela Cruz of the joint venture PH Trams-CB&T.

“Using the MRT-3 project as a fundraiser, respondent Roxas and Abaya set into motion a grand scheme of turning the DOTC as a bottomless cash cow (by) entering into one anomalous procurement project after the other in order to amass, accumulate and acquire ill-gotten wealth by taking advantage of their official position, authority and influence to unjustly enrich themselves at the expense and to the damage and prejudice of the Filipino people,” the charge sheet read.

DOTr undersecretary for legal affairs and procurement Reinir Paul Yebra, legal services director Giovanni Lopez and lawyer Mark Steven Pastor lodged the complaint for plunder, graft and procurement law violations.

Stressing that the plunder law “penalizes the most consummate larceny and economic treachery perpetrated by repositories of public trust,” they pointed out that everything started when the service maintenance being provided by Japanese firm Sumitomo Corp., which was doing well from 1997 to 2012, was replaced.

Roxas, who was DOTC secretary from 2011 to 2012, “with the intention of easing out Sumitomo and replacing it with their own dummy corporations run by well-known Liberal Party (LP) stalwarts,” sat and did not act upon the requests of Sumitomo to conduct a bidding for a long-term contract. 

When Abaya stepped in, the complainants said, he signed the short-term maintenance contract of MRT-3 with PH Trams-CB&T Joint Venture just a day after he replaced Roxas on Oct. 19, 2012 and extended the contract twice for a total of four months to August 2013 with an estimated cost of $2.3 million or P1.2 billion. 

The DOTr claimed that this was the period when the “rapid deterioration of MRT-3 trains, tracks, signaling, power supply and stations” started. It noted that PH Trams-CB&T does not even appear to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

It added that the firm was “merely a dummy entity for the respondents belonging to the Liberal Party (LP)” as evidenced by its incorporators, including Wilson Rivera who was accused of trying to extort $30 million from Czech train maker Inekon in July 2012 and candidate for mayor in Calasiao, Pangasinan under the LP in 2013.

The family of incorporator Marlo dela Cruz is also reportedly active in politics under the LP in Manaoag town, while incorporator Federico Remo served as executive vice president of Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency under the Department of Finance. 

Arturo Soriano, also an incorporator, was allegedly a provincial capitol official of Calasiao, Pangasinan and a nephew-in-law of former MRT-3 general manager Al Vitangcol III, LP fundraiser.

“It is evident that each of the respondents, by their individual acts, agreed to participate, directly or indirectly, in the amassing, accumulation and acquisition of ill-gotten wealth for respondents Roxas and Abaya and other respondents,” the complaint read.

The complainants continued that after the PH Trams-CB&T deal, the next service maintenance contract – worth P685 million – was awarded to the joint venture of Global-Autre Porte Technique Global Inc. (Global-APT) from September 2013 to September 2014.

This was allegedly granted through closed-door negotiations instead of public bidding, which “reeks of anomaly and conspiracy” since Marlo dela Cruz was also the authorized representative of the firm.

The DOTr added that Global-APT did not buy spare parts for the MRT-3 but, instead, used railway tracks from LRT-2 – a violation that allegedly led to the derailing of an MRT-3 train at the Taft Avenue station on Aug. 13, 2014. 

In February 2013, the DOTC announced the purchase of 48 train cars, with a budget of P3.769 billion, and awarded it to Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co.

However, all 48 cars remain unusable due to compatibility and weight issues – the cars were too heavy and no prototype was delivered and checked prior to delivery of all the cars to determine usability as required by the contract. 

According to the DOTr, all the charges form part of the “methodical way by which the respondents manufactured the circumstances which allowed them to execute the P4.251-billion BURI contract” by negotiated procurement from March 2015 up to January 2017.

Also identified as anomalies were the total replacement of the signaling system project for the train system, which cost the government P888 million – money that was wasted after two different and completely incompatible signaling systems were bought.

Act fast

Sen. Grace Poe welcomed the complaints as she asked the Office of the Ombudsman to act expeditiously on the cases.

“As I have previously mentioned, we should let the ax fall where it should… We expect that the ombudsman will act expeditiously on the case, because every day of delay means distress and hardship for our riding public. We can only achieve justice for our people by making those responsible for their woes accountable,” Poe said in a statement.

Poe, who chairs the Senate committee on public services, added that the complaints affirmed what her panel found during its legislative investigation on the MRT-3 case.

“There were individuals who appeared to have favored an incompetent maintenance provider and in mismanaging the train system. They should see this as an opportunity for them to clear their names,” Poe said.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque gave assurance that those who caused suffering to MRT commuters “as a result of the failure to deliver on the responsibilities of public office” would be held accountable.

He added that it is the height of injustice for Filipino taxpayers to pay P54 million per month on top of the P1.8-billion fixed fee for other services “to an unworthy contractor that is incapable of delivering the reliable system.”

Roque added that Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade is taking “positive steps” to improve the MRT-3 by tapping a reliable maintenance contractor and building new rails.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, an LP stalwart, urged the DOTr to stop blaming the previous administration for the MRT-3 problems and to focus instead on finding solutions for the sake of commuters.

He said he could not comprehend how the former officers could be charged with plunder as he maintained his “confidence in the integrity” of those accused.

“Just one basic issue, one of the elements of plunder is that you personally profited to the extent of P50 million. I don’t even think that there is an allegation that these respondents profited personally,” Drilon said.

PBA party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles claimed that an organized and regular bribery and commission system has been going on at the DOTr to keep a favored maintenance provider.

He urged BURI to return all that it has collected from the government, arguing that the Commission on Audit has declared the P3.8-billion maintenance contract invalid.  – With Paolo Romero, Marvin Sy, Delon Porcalla, Jess Diaz, Alexis Romero