DOTC chief told to quit over MRT contracts

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The camp of vice president Jejomar Binay yesterday asked transportation secretary Emilio Abaya to resign from his post for hiring four different companies to do maintenance work for Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3.

Rico Quicho, spokesman on political affairs for Binay, said the latest MRT 3 scandal involving the hiring of the four different companies for the six-month renewable contracts to do different parts of the maintenance work "will not ensure commuters' safety".

"You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realise that you don't give short-term contracts to four different entities to handle a complex process," Quicho added in a statement.

He claimed that Abaya appeared blinded by pride and seems incapable of understanding the MRT 3 problem.

"As you have already hinted that we provide a solution to the issue, the best advice we can give is for you to resign, secretary Abaya, and leave the problem to competent people who are better suited to the job," Quicho said.
"It is clear that your performance, including your predecessor's, secretary [Manuel] Mar Roxas [2nd], proves that no amount of excessive foreign schooling can guarantee competence in public service," he added.

Quicho maintained that Abaya's solution to the MRT 3 problem is a "failure."

"The correct action is to give the maintenance contract back to Sumitomo and Mitsubishi who have proven their ability to do the job. No search for the cheapest company, or one owned by party mates from the LP [Liberal Party]. Just choose the proven and competent company. And do it fast," he said.

"Accidents have happened, and just recently, two trains stopped during rush hour. Do we wait for something worse to happen?" Quicho asked.

In his version of state of the nation address, Binay said the reason behind the MRT 3 mess is the cancellation of a successful, working contract.

The vice president said this paved the way for an untested newcomer, PH Trams, headed by Mario de la Cruz, a top LP fund-raiser, and Arturo Soriano, an uncle-in-law of former MRT 3 General Manager Al Vitangcol, former IT consultant to former transportation chief and now interior secretary Roxas.

"A leader, such as a cabinet secretary, should find creative solutions to any major obstacle, regardless of legal and other types of bottlenecks. Patience, determination, executive experience in looking for a reasonable compromise and having the interest of the public as a primordial concern will enable us to address huge problems such as the MRT 3 at the soonest," Quicho said.

the department of transportation and communications (DOTC) is asking Congress for a higher budget allocation for the glitch-ridden Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 for 2016 despite its perceived failure to deliver better service to its train riders.

The DOTC, headed by secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, on its "promissory note" attached to its budget proposal for 2015 vowed to lessen service disruptions or what it called "passenger unloading incidents" and try to limit them to under 300 for the entire 2015 or not more than four cases per week.

But based on MRT 3 data provided to congress, passenger unloading incidents from January to May this year is already at 162, while car-train availability during peak hours is only 13 trains.

The agency was then asking Congress for P6.6bn for MRT 3 related expenses€ P1.92bn for "operation and maintenance" and P4.66bn as "subsidy for MRT 3".

Senator Francis Escudero, former chairman of the senate finance committee, said for 2016, the DOTC is asking P43.5bn, of which P7.09bn will be allotted to MRT 3€P1.96bn for operation and maintenance; P1.5bn for rehabilitation and capacity expansion; and P3.63bn as subsidy for "mass transport".

Escudero explained that the subsidy for "mass transport" allocation would cover deficiencies in "settling prior and current years' obligations for equity rental, maintenance fees and others obligations" in case "farebox revenues" are insufficient to cover those.

The DOTC, in exchange for the amount it is asking Congress, once again promised to speed up transfer time in stations from 10 minutes this year to 5 minutes and reduce train overloading from 171% to 157% next year.

"Is the current waiting time at MRT 3 only ten minutes? How many new trains are we expecting to arrive to say that we can ease congestion in MRT 3]?" Escudero asked.

At the same time, he pointed out that the Senate's strict scrutiny of rail-related appropriations should extend to other lines like the Light Rail Transit 1 and LRT 2 and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) that are also facing problems.

Of the P43.5bn budget request of the DOTC for 2016, almost 41% of the agency's proposed spending plan are earmarked for the rail sector.

For the PNR, the government is asking P1.32bn in operating subsidy and in exchange the train system guarantees to provide "safe and reliable rail services for the Metro South Commuter Services", the line running from Tutuban, Manila, to Calamba City, Laguna.
The DOTC is requesting P6.75bn for various LRT extension projects, including P1.62bn for LRT 1 Cavite Extension Project and P2.9bn for the LRT 2 Extension Project.