Senate backs raps vs ex-DOTr execs in MRT mess

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate leadership backed the filing of charges against former officials of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) involved in the deal that resulted in the loss of P526 million in taxpayers’ money with the purchase of 48 Chinese-made light rail vehicles or LRVs  for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT)that remain unused.

Sen. Grace Poe yesterday urged the government to run after former officials of the DOTr – then the Department of Transportation and Communications – for making a mockery of the ordeals of commuters in the guise of MRT’s well-publicized capacity expansion.?“It’s like we’ve thrown that money away already so those involved in that deal should be made accountable. Why are we prolonging the agony?” Poe said late Monday night during the plenary debates on the DOTr’s proposed P70.4-billion budget for 2018.?A total of P526 million has so far been paid by the government to Dalian Corp., out of the total P3.8-billion deal.

But out of the 48 LRVs that were delivered, only 29 have a signaling system installed and the DOTr was still in the process of running tests on the trains.

Also, all 48 trains weigh not less than 49,000 kilograms each, way above the required 46,300-kg under the terms. The allowable tolerance limit should only be two percent or 926 kgs.?“It’s just common sense. You haven’t even filled it with passengers yet the train is already overweight and our rails might not be able to take it,” Poe said.?She said these findings are “grounds for canceling the order” and possible return to the Chinese company which manufactured the trains, as in the case of Singapore.

“This is a major blunder… let’s not gamble our commuters’ safety. It’s better to move on,” she said of DOTr’s plans to make the Dalian trains work.?The DOTr earlier said it was considering returning the incompatible coaches to China. The trains would have been operational by mid-2017 and there would have been longer four-coach configuration to accommodate more passengers.

She said it will be a costly and long litigation to force Dalian to make corrective actions and the government should have a contingency plan for another way to procure trains while there’s ongoing litigation.

Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public services that initiated a full-blown investigation into the MRT, also sought support from her colleagues as she said she was poised to recommend raps against key ex-transport officials in the MRT mess.?Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, chair of the Senate finance subcommittee defending the agency’s budget, agreed.?

Told that the DOTr is still finalizing the charge sheet, Pimentel said the accountability of past officials is “obvious” considering the overweight train cars, while Ejercito said “we cannot go on wasting people’s money.”?