Press Release
October 23, 2017

Grace Poe on the filing of charges against ex-DOTC Sec. Abaya and other officials

It is high time that the ax falls where it should. The complaint filed against former Secretary Abaya and other officials over the P3.81-billion MRT maintenance contract rests on solid grounds. The Senate investigation alone has indubitably proved that the award to BURI was anomalous. I thus expect that the Ombudsman will find probable cause and file the appropriate charges with the Sandiganbayan against the culprits soon. This should deliver a stern warning and reminder that public officials past and present will have to be made accountable for their misfeasance and malfeasance in office in due time.

Dapat talagang managot sila sa kapabayaan at kapalpakan nila at panloloko sa taumbayan sa pagpapaniwalang gagaan ang mga pasanin ng pasahero sa pagkuha ng bagong maintenance provider. Isa itong anomalya na kung ipagpapatuloy pa ay masasayang lamang ang pera ng taumbayan at malalagay sa panganib ang buhay ng mga sumasakay sa MRT.

Maintenance provider BURI has shown its incompetence to handle a mammoth deal by having a record of poor safety checks, thus risking the lives of hundreds of thousands of MRT commuters every day and deceiving the government and the public in trying to supply incompatible and unreliable parts to the MRT.

This should not have happened if Secretary Abaya and his men exercised due diligence in checking whether or not BURI was capable of handling such a huge responsibility and in ensuring the safety of the public. These deplorable acts should therefore not be countenanced nor tolerated.

The actions of these DOTr officials have cost time away from Filipino families, who rely on the MRT. I do not know how these people who are involved are able to sleep at night knowing that many Filipinos have to wake up 2 to 3 hours earlier to line up at the MRT, with the sun glaring above their heads, just to suffer from train breakdowns during their commute.

This is another opportunity for the Ombudsman to show its independence and resolve to fight corruption in all levels, regardless of political affiliations, past and present. The Ombudsman should also investigate those involved in the awarding of the contract if they were working at the behest of other personalities, as what we heard during the course of our Senate hearings.

News Latest News Feed