P1.1-B graft case filed vs DOTC chief, 3 others

MANILA, Philippines - Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and three of his undersecretaries are facing a P1.1-billion graft case before the Office of the Ombudsman for their involvement in the allegedly anomalous award of a train system ticketing project.

The National Coalition of Filipino Consumers (NCFC) lodged the graft charge yesterday, accusing the Cabinet officials of involvement in the allegedly anomalous award of a train system ticketing contract to AF Consortium.

Abaya and Undersecretaries Jose Perpetuo Lotilla, Rene Limcaoco and Catherine Jennifer Gonzales, as members of the Bids and Awards Committee of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), supposedly violated the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act by causing undue injury and entering into a deal that is grossly and manifestly disadvantageous to the government.

In a 14-page complaint lodged through lawyer Oliver San Antonio, the NCFC said Abaya and his officials should be held liable for giving the P1.1-billion Contactless Automated Fare Collection System (CAFCS) contract to AF Consortium despite it being unqualified to bid for the project.

The project seeks to replace the ticketing system or magstripe collection technology of the Light Rail Transit and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) lines. Adopting the CAFCS will allow seamless use of the train systems. The public will no longer need to insert magnetic cards in the slots to ride the trains, the group said.

The NCFC, who staged a rally in front of the Office of the Ombudsman upon the filing of the graft charge, said five consortia intended to join the bidding for the project in May 2013. But only AF Consortium, SM Consortium and Comworks-Berjaya Inc. passed the technical evaluation stage in November 2013.

With a negative bid of P1,088,103,900 payable in 10 years and an initial payment of P278.991 million, AF Consortium apparently won the bidding, beating SM Consortium’s P1,088,000,000 even though the latter was offering a one-time full payment of its bid. Comworks-Berjaya Inc. submitted a bid of P2,050,090,300.

The NCFC cried foul, saying that AF Consortium should have been disqualified for conflict of interest and for having a pending case against the government before the Makati City Regional Trial Court and an arbitration case in Singapore.

 The AF Consortium allegedly violated the rules of Instructions to Prospective Bidders (IPB), which “prohibit consortium members and their affiliates from owning or holding 50 percent of the outstanding voting shares in any of the concessionaires of LRT 1, LRT2 and MRT 3.”

The NCFC said that AF Consortium’s Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and Ayala Land have total shareholdings of 67 percent in MRT Corp., the private concessionaire of MRT 3.

Also in violation of the IPB, the consumer’s group said the AF Consortium affiliates were allowed to join the bidding despite having a pending case against the government stemming from the procurement of new trains for the MRT 3 expansion project.

“Verily, the respondents, all in conspiracy with one another, conveniently but illegally turned a blind eye to these pending and still unresolved legal matters involving the DOTC and MRTC, all with the intention to award the ticketing project to AF Consortium,” the NCFC said in its complaint.

“It now becomes fairly obvious that respondents wanted AF Consortium to bag the contract, irrespective of numerous bidding rule violations and deliberately unrealistic and erroneous financial and ridership figures provided by the winning bidder,” they added.

Abaya: DOTC followed bidding rules

But Abaya yesterday maintained that the bidding for the CAFCS was aboveboard and the DOTC followed all laws and rules on bidding. 

“This is why we are ready to face this complaint. As long as what you do is right, you have nothing to fear,” Abaya said.

“We will review the complaint once we receive a copy, but we are not worried since we know that there was nothing irregular in the bidding out of the project,” he added. With Lawrence Agcaoili