Ex-DOTC chief Abaya on P3.8B MRT deal: ‘Walang nakinabang, walang kalokohan’

Former Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya on Monday said there was no anomaly in the P3.8-billion contract entered into by the defunct Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) for the procurement of new MRT-3 train cars.

“Ginagantariya ko sa inyo na walang nakinabang dito, walang kalokohan dito, above board lahat. Malinaw ang konsensya namin. Kaya kong sagutin ang Panginoon na ginawa namin nang maayos ito,” Abaya said.

Abaya was one of the resource persons at the Senate public services committee hearing on the supposed inefficient management and maintenance of the MRT.

It was under Abaya’s leadership at the DOTC that the department bought 48 light rail vehicles (LRVs) from China’s Dalian. These coaches, according to the now Department of Transportation (DOTr), will remain unusable for the next three years because of problems in the compatibility in the signaling system.

Abaya said that under the contract’s terms of reference, all 48 LRVs should have “full compability.”

“Malinaw na malinaw na CRRC (Dalian) is fully responsible to ensure signaling work. Hindi dapat magturuan sila. At the end of the day, kapag pumalpak ito, ang tanging sisisihin ay CRRC,” he said.

Abaya, along with other former DOTC officials, was earlier sued by civil society groups with graft over the P3.8-billion deal.

"Dalian proved itself to be not technically capable of delivering the goods it was contracted to manufacture. Respondents, for one reason or another, turned a blind eye on Dalian's technical deficiencies," the complaint read. — RSJ, GMA News