MRT chief says he resigned, ready for lifestyle check

MANILA, Philippines â€” Embattled Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) general manager Al Vitangcol III said on Tuesday that he is ready to face a lifestyle check after stepping down from his post amid new allegations of corruption.

In an interview on ANC's Headstart, Vitangcol explained that the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) imposed a preventive suspension on him while conducting an administrative inquiry in connection with a recent expose of STAR columnist Jarius Bondoc.

Vitangcol said he decided to resign instead of being temporarily relieved from his post.

"This new issue is an entirely different matter. So, I took this opportunity to spare DOTC and of course the present administration," Vitangcol told program host Karen Davila.

In his column yesterday, Bondoc alleged that Vitangcol had awarded without bidding a P517.5-million contract to PH Trams in 2012 for a 10-month maintenance of MRT-3 trains.

Read: MRT-3 chief gave P517-M contract to uncle-in-law

Bondoc revealed that the uncle of Vitangcol's wife, Arturo V. Soriano, is one of the six incorporators-directors of PH Trams.

The contract, whose terms of reference were allegedly drawn up by Vitangcol, originally ran from October 2012 to April 2013, with PH Trams being paid $1.15 million or about P51.75 million a month.

Bondoc wrote that the contract was extended twice, to June 2013 and then to August 2013.

Denying Bondoc's allegations, Vitangcol claimed that he did not personally award any contract and that the deal with PH Trams went under the normal bidding process.

He further claimed that Soriano was no longer connected with PH Trams when the government awarded a contract to the company.

The new allegation against Vitangcol surfaced on the eve of the resumption of a congressional inquiry into an alleged attempt by the MRT chief and several others to extort $30 million from Czech company Inekon in July 2012 in the presence of Czech Ambassador Josef Rychtar.

Vitangcol said the second expose implicating him is affecting his job as MRT general manager.

"It demoralizes the people within MRT-3 so I felt it would be best for everybody for me to step out," Vitangcol told ANC.

Saying he is ready to face a lifestyle check, Vitangcol believes that his name will be cleared in the future.

"I'm disappointed with the way the government works. But then again, time will tell. Time will heal everything," Vitangcol said. - Louis Bacani