DOTC's Abaya shrugs off Poe’s call for his sacking

Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya on Thursday dismissed the call of Senator Grace Poe for President Benigno Aquino III to sack the Cabinet official from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

“As I have repeatedly said, it is a mere privilege for me to be serving our people,” Abaya said in a text message to GMA News Online.

Poe wants Abaya booted out of the department amid the controversies surrounding the maintenance contracts awarded by the DOTC for the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3).

The senator has urged the President not to wait for Abaya to resign. Instead, she wants the President to find an immediate replacement for the DOTC chief.

South Korea's Busan Transport Corp. wants out of the three-year, P3.81-billion maintenance contract negotiated by the DOTC.

On the other hand, officials of the DOTC and Metro Rail Transit Authority and the holder of a short-term maintenance contract for the mass rail commuter system – SBI-CB&T – are currently embroiled in a legal tussle. The Filipino-German contractor has claimed it has not been paid by the government for spare parts and maintenance services since July 2015.

A close ally of the President, Abaya was appointed as DOTC chief in 2012.

Malacañang earlier said that all Cabinet members, including Abaya, are “assessed continually by the President as Chief Executive.”

The DOTC and other concerned agencies have been tasked by the President to address the problems faced by motorists and commuters in the National Capital Region, said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.

“Additional transport infrastructure are also being built and planned to provide long-term solutions,” the Palace official said. – VS, GMA News