As the Senate resumes today its probe into the troubles plaguing the railway system, Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II rejected charges he had a hand in the maintenance deal for the Metro Rail Transit.
Senator Grace Poe, chairman of the sub-committee on public services, has invited to the hearing officials of the Transport department, MRT, LRT and the Center for Commuters, a non-government group.
Poe expressed fears for the safety of commuters, about 650,000 daily or twice the capacity of MRT, given that the trains and tracks have frequently broken down due to wear and tear.
The presidential bet also questioned the MRT contracts entered into by the government because these employed and sustained the services of companies that do not have the capacity to maintain the railway system.
Roxas disowned the botched maintenance deal between the MRT and PH Trams.
“No, not at all. I don’t recall. What we’re talking here is the maintenance of the MRT which was Sumitomo at that time. When I was still [Transportation secretary], I’m just continuing on the hold-over of Sumitomo,” Roxas told reporters over the weekend.
Poe decried the long queues at MRT stations that the commuting public endures daily and blamed Roxas for the train system’s “dilapidated” state.
Poe also quizzed current Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya for “deliberately signing the maintenance contract” without any review.
“From a reputable contractor like Japanese firm Sumitomo, it was transferred to PH Trams and APT Global. And the contract was signed if I’m not mistaken, less than two weeks after Secretary Abaya got appointed,” Poe said.
“When we asked him on why did he signed the contract [with PH Trams and APT Global], Secretary Abaya told us that the contract was already finished, so he just signed it and for approval only. But who was [the DoTC secretary] before him?” Poe said.
Roxas, who held the Transportation portfolio from 2011 to 2012 before moving to the Department of the Interior and Local Government after the death of Jesse Robredo, was responsible for the government’s review at that time of the MRT’s maintenance provider.
The original maintenance agreement between MRT and Sumitomo expired on June 21, 2010 but went through four extensions from June 2010 until October 2012.
Fifteen days prior to the expiration of the last extension, the MRT Bids and Awards Committee adopted a resolution to make a negotiated procurement of an interim maintenance provider for six months and negotiate its terms and conditions. It was then awarded to the PH Trams-CB&T partnership with APT Global on Oct. 20, 2012.
Abaya, who also serves as president of the Liberal Party, replaced Roxas by that time.
