PROVE LEGITIMACY OF MRT-3 CONTRACT, ABAYA!

PUBLIC STATEMENT/Jan, 4, 2016
ABAKADA Party-List

PROVE THERE’S NO MRT-3 CONTRACT ANOMALY!
Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya says there were no irregularities in the awarding of the P3.8-billion maintenance contract for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3) to a Korean-Filipino group without public bidding. Prove it, Mr. Secretary. Immediately, please!

Disclose ALL THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS of the contract to the public for scrutiny both by Congress and the private sector. Include the company profiles and other records for the people to find out if the owner of any member-companies of the group are members or supporters of the Liberal Party or not.

Come out with the technical, financial and management capability of the Korean-Filipino business group to whom you awarded the P3.81-billion maintenance contract without public bidding. How much is the capitalization of each member company of the group? Come out with the track record of this group in maintaining a train line as big as MRT-3, for scrutiny and validation by independent experts from the private sector. If that group does not have enough capital, and resources, as well as proven expertise in undertaking the maintenance contract, you had better have indisputable proof, Mr. Abaya, that no money changed hands following the awarding.

And most of all, Mr. Abaya, since you clamed a SUPPOSED EMERGENCY as the main reason for awarding the P3,81-billion maintenance contract, prove the emergency. Come out with the details, Mr. Abaya. What exactly is the trouble and where – the train coaches, the tracks, signaling system? Who categorized the problem as an emergency and how long has this been going on? Of course, you will say, you had tried to remedy the emergency so tell us what have you done, and what were the results. If you did not do, and have not done, anything about it, you had better have a solid justification why you should not be fired.

Your mere words, Mr. Abaya are not and will never be enough. The continued deterioration of MRT-3 under your watch is more than enough proof that your pronouncements alone cannot be trusted. The 500,000 plus passengers of MRT-3 and the people as a whole, who pay for all the expenses of the train line with their hard-earned salaries and taxes, have all the right to know the truth on where their monies go to. 30