Duterte wants MRT plunder raps vs Aquino men

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has asked government counsel Jose Calida to determine how officials of the previous administration, including former transportation secretaries Mar Roxas and Joseph Emilio Abaya, can be made accountable for the mess at the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3).

“The President asked Solgen Calida to look further into this matter,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a press briefing yesterday, after Duterte tackled the matter during the 23rd Cabinet meeting Monday night. 

Duterte pushed for the need to make the former officers accountable for the current MRT-3 problems, which often add to the difficulties that commuters face, and for plunder. 

Apart from Roxas and Abaya, he also wanted former budget secretary Florencio Abad investigated.

“I think we know already that it includes the former transportation secretary, that includes even Mr. Mar Roxas, it includes budget secretary Butch Abad, among others. This is for the award of the contract to a company with absolutely no track record,” Roque said, referring to the awarding of the maintenance contract to Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI).

He described BURI as a company obligated to repair 26 coaches but was only able to deliver two.

Aside from the maintenance problem, the Palace also wanted to look into the awarding of the wrong signaling system to BURI.

While the charges remain unsolved, Roque said the President has ordered the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to speed up the procurement of spare parts needed for the rehabilitation of the MRT-3.

He also revealed that Sumitomo Corp. is being tapped to become MRT-3’s maintenance provider again through an agreement with the Japanese government.

“But in any case, that’s just part of the solution. Accountability is part of the solution. Government has taken steps, while it is currently operating the MRT, to procure much needed spare parts,” he added.

The DOTr earlier filed a supplemental complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against the former transportation officials and several former Cabinet members in connection with the MRT-3 maintenance service contract.

Sen. Grace Poe said pursuing new cases against the previous officials responsible for the deterioration of MRT-3 would go a long way in the search for accountability that the public is demanding.

She said the cases should be filed against all those responsible and that these should be done with haste.

While the cases would not solve the present MRT-3 problems, Poe believes that this would send a strong message to government officials that they would be held accountable for any shenanigans they commit and if they fail to perform their duties faithfully.

The order of the President to file cases against the previous transportation officials, she added, should also prompt current officers to act swiftly unless they want to suffer the same fate.

Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public services, has conducted several hearings on the problems of the MRT-3. She said that based on what has been presented so far, the responsibility would even go back to the time of former secretary Abaya. – With Marvin Sy