Bid for ex-Czech envoy to testify through video junked

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman stands to lose two of its vital witnesses in the graft cases it filed against former Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 general manager Al Vitangcol III.

In an eight-page resolution promulgated on April 24 and released to the media yesterday, the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division denied the motion of the ombudsman’s prosecution team to allow former Czech ambassador Josef Rychtar and Inekon Group board chairman and chief executive officer Josef Husek to testify through video conferencing.

“Here, the prosecution failed to convince this Court that such means of presentation of testimonial evidence is necessary,” the ruling penned by division chairman Associate Justice Sarah Jane Fernandez read.

It added that the prosecution failed to substantiate its bare allegations that Rychtar cannot come to the Philippines and attend to the hearings due to his responsibilities as incumbent Czech ambassador to Chile and that Husek’s “health condition and business responsibilities in his home country” also render him incapable of testifying in the Philippines.

Both are supposed to talk on the alleged attempt to extort $30 million from the Czech company Inekon Group in 2012 for an MRT-3 project.

The Sixth Division pointed out that while the Supreme Court, in a 2002 memorandum, said that the presentation of electronic evidence, such as a video testimony, can be allowed in both civil and criminal cases, it must first be established that the presentation of such evidence is necessary.

“It appears that the respective testimonies of Mr. Husek and Amb. Rychtar are vital to the prosecution of the present cases. However, the prosecution failed to show that Mr. Husek and Amb. Rychtar cannot come to the Philippines for the purpose of testifying in the present cases,” the Sixth Division stressed.

Vitangcol and his co-accused Wilson de Vera, one of the directors of maintenance provider PH Trams, are facing two counts each of violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which stemmed from their alleged attempt to extort $30 million from the Inekon Group.

It was also alleged that the amount, later reduced to $2.5 million, was asked in exchange for the awarding of a contract to supply train coaches for the P3.8-billion MRT expansion project under the previous administration.?The respondents also allegedly insisted that officials of Inekon enter into a joint venture agreement with De Vera’s group under a 60-40 percentage sharing (with 60 percent in favor of Inekon) in exchange for awarding the maintenance contract to them.

The extortion try, which allegedly took place in his residence at Forbes Park in Makati City on July 9 to 10, 2012, was exposed by then Czech ambassador Rychtar.

Eventually, the contract for the supply of coaches was awarded to CNR Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co. of China while the maintenance contract was awarded to PH Trams.?In ruling on the motion, the Sixth Division said the prosecution failed to show why Rychtar and Husek are absolutely incapable of coming to the Philippines to give their respective testimonies and decided to allow them to testify only in person.

Vitangcol, De Vera and four other officials of PH Trams are also facing graft charges in another division of the Sandiganbayan over the alleged anomalous awarding of the MRT-3 maintenance deal to PH Trams and its joint venture Comm Builders and Technology Philippines Corp.