Transport department files graft complaints vs former officials, MRT 3 maintenance provider at Ombudsman

October 23, 2017

The Department of Transportation Monday filed criminal complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman against its former head and 10 other s along with executives of Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI) over alleged fraud in awarding of the consortium of a three-year P3.809 billion maintenance contract for MRT-3 in 2016.

Transport Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Procurement Reinier Paul  Yebra filed a 29-page complaint affidavit seeking graft indictments against  former Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya, Undersecretary for Operations Edwin Lopez, Undersecretary for Planning Rene Limcaoco, Undersecretary for Procurement and Administration Catherine Gonzales, DOTC-MRT3 general manager Roman Buenafe, assistant secretary for procurement and Bids and Awards Committee chairperson Camille Alcaraz, BAC vice chairperson Ofelia Astera, and BAC members Charissa Eloisa Jullia Opulencia, Oscar Bongon, Jose Rodante Sabayle, and Maria Cecilia Natividad.

DOTr accused the respondents of conspiracy to commit fraud saying BURI is not the same entity that submitted a bid proposal and was awarded the contract by the DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communications)..

The DOTr said no valid joint venture agreement was submitted to the DOTC only a notarized statement to enter into a joint venture signed among TramaMarcantile Inc., TMICorp, Edison Development and Construction, Busan Corp, and Castan Corp.

“The contract between DOTC and the Busan JV has been and is being implemented by BURI which is a totally different entity. Buri is a newly formed corporation who does not only lack the required years of experience, but more importantly has not, for all legal intents and purposes, joined the bidding at all,”  Yerba said.

DOTr said for 2016, there were 63 service interruption and 586 incidents of passenger unloading. These were in addition to 2,705 reported train removals in 2016.

“This means that there were almost two cases of service interruptions and/or passenger unloading every day in calendar year 2016 due to poor maintenance by BURI,” he said. DMS