Abaya using old trick to extend MRT-3 deal

At this point perhaps only his relatives can save President Noynoy Aquino from himself. He has fallen into bad company — of Liberal Party gangsters — and needs steering from perdition. Historical damnation is where he’s headed, in mangling the Constitution to suit political whim.

His sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts know P-Noy more than party mates ever will. They realize how deeply hurt he was that the Supreme Court illegalized his Disbursement Acceleration Program. He never wanted to be President — and now this SC ruling that could impeach or imprison him. LP tempters are egging P-Noy to get even, as if a rival gang had beaten one of them and so must be taught a lesson. They aim to clip the SC’s powers, and, for good measure, also extend his term. That would show ‘em who’s boss.

We the people were never P-Noy’s or the LP’s “bosses.” That’s just PR, as are “daang matuwid (straight path)” and “wala nang wang-wang (no more abusers).” They consider themselves almighty and untouchable.

The family must reclaim the legacy of Ninoy Aquino and Cory Cojuangco Aquino that P-Noy is tarnishing. Ninoy had given his life defending Congress and the SC against the dictator; P-Noy today is leading the maiming of the two coequal branches. Cory had defeated that dictator to restore democracy; P-Noy is crushing the sovereign will.

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Transport Sec. Joseph Emilio Abaya must think he can fool all of the people all of the time. He’s not even concocting a novel excuse to extend the Metro Rail Transit-3’s lousy maintenance contractor. He’s using the old trick of “emergency.”

Supposedly there’s no more time to hold a public bidding for a three-year contractor. So Abaya sighs that he would have to beg the contractor, Global Inc.-Autre Porte Technique consortium, to continue beyond its expiration on Sept. 4, 2014.

But of course Global-APT gladly will extend. The partners never had it so good. MRT-3 is paying the consortium $1.4 million a month (not only $1.15 million as earlier reported) to do no maintenance at all. That Global-APT are able to pull such shenanigan is Abaya’s mystique: he is the president of the LP, the ruling party that P-Noy considers his life. With no upkeep, MRT-3 trains often conk out, ignite, and crash; tracks crack; and power cables trip. Never has Abaya taken Global-APT to task for those incidents in which dozens of passengers are hospitalized for serious injuries, and millions of motorists get trapped in traffic. He blames it all on human error, like those damned train drivers, or on nature, those damned lightning — never on the non-maintenance. For, Global is owned by his compadre, one Marlo dela Cruz, LP member who habitually shows off photos and videos on his tablet with former LP president and transport chief Mar Roxas, and P-Noy.

Roxas, then Abaya had mouthed the old excuse before of supposedly not having enough time for a public bidding. That was when the original ten-year maintenance contract of Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. expired in July 2010. Roxas thrice extended the contract for six months, and one last time for nine months — to Oct. 2012. He had all the time for a public bidding, but didn’t hold one.

Two months before that final expiration, Abaya took over the Dept. of Transportation and Communications. He could have extended one last time, for just three months, to hold a proper public bidding, but didn’t. Instead, he went into “simplified bidding,” that is, separate closed-door negotiations with three firms. The first was Sumitomo, which asked for $1.4 million a month, which was its expired contract amount. Another was Miescor-Genials, which couldn’t make a proper offer because it was not given the terms of reference. Third was the consortium of PH Trams and CommBuilders and Transport Inc., for $1.15 million a month, exactly the DOTC’s “ceiling price.” His excuse for the “emergency” was that the MRT-3’s private builder-operator, Metro Rail Transit Corp., suddenly gave up on its duties — which wasn’t true.

CB&T was fairly experienced in railway maintenance, having handled Light Rail Transit-2. But PH Trams was barely two months old, with no track record in railways, when it bagged the deal in Oct. 2012. It stayed for ten months, and was paid a total of P517.5 million, 848 times its puny capital of P625,000. Abaya, U-Sec. Jose Perpetuo Lotilla, and then-MRT-3 general manager Al S. Vitangcol signed the contract post-haste.

What made PH Trams so influential as to bag such deal? Its chairman is the same Marlo dela Cruz, later of Global. Another incorporator-director is Arturo Soriano, uncle-in-law of Vitangcol. Three other incorporator-directors are Wilson de Vera, Manolo Maralit and his wife. The sixth founder is Federico Remo, at that time executive vice president of the state-owned Philippine Export-Import Guaranty Corp. In April 2013 the Czech envoy accused Dela Cruz and de Vera of trying to extort $30 million, in behalf of Vitangcol, from Czech train maker Inekon Corp. Maralit allegedly witnessed everything. The Inekon CEO corroborated the events that happened a year earlier in July 2012.

PH Trams became too hot to handle. Another bidding was contrived, in which Global-APT came in — still with the mysterious Marlo dela Cruz as “authorized representative.” Signing the contract were Abaya, Lotilla, and LRT-1 and -2 chief Honorito Chaneco, Abaya’s ex-classmate. Now Chaneco and Abaya are aching to extend Global at $1.4 million a month for three years, or $50.4 million (P2.268 billion) — no bidding. His excuse for this is that MRTC, again, is delaying the approval of the terms of reference for a public bidding. This is again a lie. Abaya’s men gave MRTC the draft TOR only last Wednesday, ye expect complete comments by today — a physical impossibility.

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