LRTA execs, contractors face corruption complaint over P170-M deals

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By Krixia Subingsubing | Philippine Daily Inquirer | December 14, 2021 5:34AM

MANILA, Philippines — The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) has filed corruption complaints in the Office of the Ombudsman against its officials and engineers as well as private contractors who were involved in the allegedly anomalous purchase of P170.3-million worth of equipment for the LRT 2 line.

PURCHASE MESS These handout photos from the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) show the rerailing equipment from an Indian supplier (left) and the substandard diagnostic tool delivered by Kempal Construction and Supply Corp. to LRT 2 line. (Photo from LRTA)

The complaint named Fernando Quiambao, former LRTA head executive assistant and project implementation officer; Antonio Laigo Jr., LRT 2 operations department manager and designated representative to the bids and awards committee of the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service; Julito Bernales, manager of the LRTA’s project management office for rehabilitation projects; LRTA engineer Rommel Correa; and former LRTA employee Robert Ruiz.

Also charged were Kempal Construction and Supply Corp. and the joint venture of Ma-an Construction Inc. and IFE Elevators Inc., the winning bidders for the contracts.

Inconsistencies

The charges were the result of a two-year fact-finding mission initiated by the late LRTA Administrator Reynaldo Berroya and supported by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) to investigate three contracts: one worth P138 million for the train line’s conveyance system; another worth P25.8 million for the supply and delivery of the rolling stocks; and a P6.5-million contract for the supply and delivery of rerailing equipment.

Initially, the PACC recommended the filing of charges against Quiambao, Bernales, Correa and Ruiz.

In its affidavit of complaint supporting the findings of the PACC, the LRTA also included Laigo in the respondents for his failure to “take action to safeguard the interest of the Authority which he represented.”

The LRTA said Laigo “was duty-bound to protect the interest of LRTA and should have made sure that the bidding documents conform [with] standards and the deliveries and testing parameters were compliant with the technical specifications required under the contract.”

The agency said it uncovered in its investigation several inconsistencies in those contracts—such as the 13 escalators installed at Recto Station which were found, during the renewal of their certificate to operate, to be operating at 6,000 passengers per hour, below the required carrying capacity of 9,000 passengers per hour.

Only one of those 13 escalators remained operational, with the rest having broken down even before the expiration of their warranty period.

Furthermore, a crate containing rerailing equipment was found to have a sticker printout saying it was shipped by Chinese firm CRRC Corp., as ordered by Kempal, the supplier in the contracts.

However, the crate was discovered to be containing equipment from Bemco, an Indian company.

Because the LRTA did not accept the equipment, payment was not made to Kempal.

Past cases

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade has ordered a review of all other rehabilitation projects of the LRTA, saying more charges may be filed against erring officials and contractors.

He also directed the blacklisting of Ma-an Construction Inc. and IFE Elevators.

Past LRTA officials have also faced graft complaints in recent years.

In 2015, the National Coalition of Filipino Consumers charged 10 officials in the Ombudsman for allegedly giving undue advantage to a bidder for the maintenance contract of LRT 2’s Santolan-Recto line.

The group claimed that the winning bidder, Busan-EDC joint venture, was favored despite having submitted its offer “three minutes” past the deadline for bids on April 22 that year. Safety issues were also raised regarding the Busan-EDC bid.

In 2016 the Office of the Ombudsman filed graft charges against 13 LRTA officials, including its former administrator Melquiades Robles, over alleged irregularities in the implementation of maintenance contracts in 2009.

According to the Ombudsman, Robles and the other accused allowed a contractor to reduce the number of janitors to be hired from what was agreed upon. The contracts, which were extended to 2013, involved deploying at least 793 janitors and other workers to the LRT’s line stations and rolling stocks, but only 209 personnel were sent, the Ombudsman learned.

LRTA officials at that time were ordered suspended for six months, while those who no longer worked at the agency were fined an amount equivalent to their last salary multiplied by six months.

Source: Inquirer.Net

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