The MRT breaking down is a weekly occurrence and an unfortunate reality for Manila commuters. And according to a statement by Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque yesterday, this may have have been caused by officials from the previous administration who allegedly took part of the train’s maintenance budget.
His source? An unnamed whistleblower.
“The whistleblower said that 1/3 of our total payment for the contract went to the Pangasinan group. Then 1/3 was allegedly used to pay for political machinery and only 1/3 went towards maintaining MRT 3,” Roque said in an interview on Radyo 5 yesterday.
He did not specify the officials involved in the allegation and did not say who was part of the so-called “Pangasinan group.”
According to Roque, the whistleblower will be brought to the National Bureau of Investigation and that the government will file charges against those involved.
The government is currently investigating whether or not former transportation and communications secretaries Joseph Emilio Abaya and Manuel Roxas II, and Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad had anything to do with the MRT 3’s current condition.
Abaya, Abad, and Roxas (who ran against President Rodrigo Duterte in the 2016 elections) are all part of the opposing Liberal Party.
Filipino-Korean consortium Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI) was the MRTs maintenance provider during the previous administration but the Department of Transportation (DOTr) terminated its contract with the company in November.
Unlike many other metropolitan cities, train breakdowns are more the norm than exception in Manila. Last week, the DOTr even patted itself on the back in a Facebook post for not having any MRT incidents for a week.
Improving infrastructure and public transportation is one of the Duterte government’s priority projects. The DOTr has increased the number of point-to-point buses in Manila and a Metro Manila subway is planned to be operational by 2020.
His source? An unnamed whistleblower.
“The whistleblower said that 1/3 of our total payment for the contract went to the Pangasinan group. Then 1/3 was allegedly used to pay for political machinery and only 1/3 went towards maintaining MRT 3,” Roque said in an interview on Radyo 5 yesterday.
He did not specify the officials involved in the allegation and did not say who was part of the so-called “Pangasinan group.”
According to Roque, the whistleblower will be brought to the National Bureau of Investigation and that the government will file charges against those involved.
The government is currently investigating whether or not former transportation and communications secretaries Joseph Emilio Abaya and Manuel Roxas II, and Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad had anything to do with the MRT 3’s current condition.
Abaya, Abad, and Roxas (who ran against President Rodrigo Duterte in the 2016 elections) are all part of the opposing Liberal Party.
Filipino-Korean consortium Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI) was the MRTs maintenance provider during the previous administration but the Department of Transportation (DOTr) terminated its contract with the company in November.
Unlike many other metropolitan cities, train breakdowns are more the norm than exception in Manila. Last week, the DOTr even patted itself on the back in a Facebook post for not having any MRT incidents for a week.
Improving infrastructure and public transportation is one of the Duterte government’s priority projects. The DOTr has increased the number of point-to-point buses in Manila and a Metro Manila subway is planned to be operational by 2020.
No comments:
Post a Comment