The former General manager of Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3) Gen. Manager Al Vitangcol III and five incorporators of the Philippine Trans Rail Management and Services Corporation (PH Trams) faces graft charges before the Office of the Sandiganbayan in connection with the controversial MRT3 maintenance contract.
The Office of the Ombudsman revealed to the media through its Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) that the former General Manager and his co-accused conspired in awarding the MRT3 maintenance contract to PH Trams and its joint venture Comm Builders and Technology Philippines Corporation (CB&T) in October 2012, based upon the separate complaints filed before the Sandiganbayan on November 27, 2015.
The former MRT3 general manager and his co-accused were charged with violating Sections 3 (e) and 3 (h) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Section 65 of RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.
According to the graft case filed against Vitangcol, his co-accused were PH Trams incorporators Wilson de Vera, Marlo dela Cruz, Manolo Maralit, Federico Remo and Vitangcol’s uncle-in-law, Arturo Soriano, presently the provincial accountant of Pangasinan.
Under the anomalous contract the MRT was to pay PH Trams-CB&T $1.15 million in a month for the maintenance works of MRT 3. The complaint noted that the joint venture of the controversial company should have been disqualified earlier under government procurement rules.
“Despite having a direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest in PH Trams…” Vitangcol “unlawfully” used his various positions as the general manager of MRT3, head of the DOTC-MRT3 Negotiating Team, and member of the MRT Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) in recommending that the maintenance contract be awarded to PH Trams-CB&T, according to the case information sheet.
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