Manila: Nine officials in the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III had been charged with “plunder” in connection with a train maintenance contract.
Former officials led by secretaries Joseph Emilio Abaya, Manuel “Mar” Roxas III, Florencio Abad, Cesar Purisima, Jericho Petilla, Voltaire Gazmin, Rogelio Singson, Arsenio Balicasan and Mario Montejo: respectively of the departments of transportation, interior, budget, finance, defence, public works, national economic development authority and science and technology; were charged with committing the capital offence of plunder by Ombusman Conchita Carpio-Morales.
Republic Act No. 7080 defines plunder as a crime committed by a public official when the latter amasses, accumulates or acquires ill-gotten wealth through a combination or series of overt criminal acts … in the aggregate amount or total value of at least fifty million pesos.
Such crime is punishable by lifetime imprisonment.
The Ombudsman’s office said the officials, along with the South Korean maintenance contractor of the Metrorail Transit 3 (MRT3), Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI), are responsible for the frequent breakdowns of the overhead light railway service.
The MRT3 is one of the three overhead commuter rail service providing the transport needs of Metro Manila residents. It was constructed during the administration of former President Fidel Ramos and was finished in 1999 during the presidency of Joseph Estrada.
Frequent breakdowns
Poor maintenance of the rail system, used by some 500,000 commuters everyday, had led to frequent breakdowns.
Just late last week, one of the coaches were decoupled during operation causing apprehension as well as delay for thousands of commuters. Fortunately no one was hurt.
Senator Grace Poe said the Ombudsman’s decision to charge the officials mentioned had been a long time coming.
“As I have previously mentioned, we should let the axe fall where it should. I believe the Department of Transportation has exercised due diligence in reviewing the issues with BURI, strong enough to come up with a case against those involved,” she said.
An investigation by the Senate had revealed that the award to BURI was anomalous and disadvantageous to the public. The poor maintenance service and the daily technical glitches have resulted in fewer functioning coaches and long passenger queues.
“There were individuals who appeared to have favoured an incompetent maintenance provider and in mismanaging the train system. They should see this as an opportunity for them to clear their names,” Poe said.
For his part, Senator Franklin Drilon, a political ally of the nine accused, said the case against the officials are full of legal loopholes.
Responding to charges
“I’m confident that they (Sec. Roxas, Sec. Abaya, et. al.) can respond to the charges. Just one basic issue, the plunder requires or one of the elements of the crime is that you personally profited to the extent of P50 million. I don’t even think that there is an allegation that these respondents profited personally,” Drilon, a lawyer and former justice secretary said.
“I have confidence in the integrity of these people (accused),” he said.
The MRT3 had been hounded by accidents and onerous maintenance contracts.
In 2015, MRT3 general manager Al Vitangcol III was charged before the Ombudsman for entering into a similarly anomalous contract with another maintenance provider, PH Trams-CB & T joint venture.
