Ex-DOTr officials cleared over P176.14 million unpaid bills

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman has dismissed criminal and administrative complaints filed by a Metro Rail Transit Line 3 maintenance provider against former Department of Transportation officials over the MRT-3’s failure to pay P176.14 million in maintenance service fees.

In a 30-page resolution dated Sept. 29 and released yesterday, graft investigation and prosecution officer Michelle Villabesa said “there is no sufficient evidence to establish probable cause” in the graft charge filed by Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI) against then undersecretary Cesar Chavez, then senior technical assistant Hernando Cabrera and Jorjette Belen, program head of Urban Integrated Consultants Inc.

The ombudsman said BURI’s failure to submit complete supporting documents when it demanded the payment of maintenance service fees “was one of the reasons why the consultant did not recommend immediate payment of BURI’s claims.”

“There is no proof that Chavez acted whimsically, capriciously or with ill will when he required BURI to comply with certain conditions before payments of BURI’s billings could be made. His actions were based on the provisions of the contract and Commission on Audit’s guidelines and requirements,” the resolution read.

BURI’s claims of payment are better addressed in a civil action, the ombudsman added.

In its complaint filed on Sept. 20, 2017, BURI said the unpaid billings covered the ninth to 18th months of its contract from Sept. 19, 2016 to July 18, 2017, but noted that the DOTr promptly paid the first eight months of its contract from Jan. 19 to Sept. 18, 2016.

BURI accused Chavez of imposing additional requirements on it to process the billings. The firm also claimed Chavez and Cabrera lacked factual and legal bases when they called for the contract’s termination during Senate public service committee hearings.