Solon seeks probe of past admin’s purchase of P3.8-B MRT coaches

A lawmaker is seeking a congressional probe on the coaches purchased by the previous administration for the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), a report on "24 Oras" by Chino Gaston said Friday.

More than a year after it was promised to the public, the new light rail vehicles (LRVs) of the MRT-3 remain unused to accommodate commuters, PBA Party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles said.

He wants the congressional inquiry to look into the possible anomalies surrounding the purchase of the said coaches.

The government bought 48 LRVs from China's Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co. for P3.8 billion. Meanwhile, more than P3.8 billion was the maintenance contract for the new coaches with Korean firm Busan Universal Rail Inc.

"Andito 'yung tren, but none of them are approved to be accepted and none of them are approved to be accepted in delivery alone. So 'yan po 'yung malaking problema niyan... mukhang papunta po ng plunder itong nadidiskubre natin dahil unang-una P3.8 billion po ang pinag-uusapan at kada buwan lampas po ng P50 million ang binabayaran ng gobyerno dito sa Busan. Ano naman ang kanilang pinapakita na binabayaran doon?" Nograles said.

The lawmaker showed to GMA News a receipt from a machine shop in Bulacan -  a subcontractor of Busan - where 16 wheels of the LRVs were refaced as part of the multi-billion peso maintenance contract.

The owner of the said machine shop did not deny that they are a subcontractor for Busan, however, he clarified that the maintenance work for the wheels were not done in Bulacan, but in their machine shop in Valenzuela City.

The owner also said that he has been a subcontractor for previous maintenance providers of MRT.

The management of MRT, for its part, said that there were no problems in terms of the new LRVs' safety and compatibility.

At the MRT's depot in Quezon City, the new coaches can be seen already assembled.

Thity-three of the 48 LRVs were complete and ready for commercial operation, however, the signaling system for the new coaches is still needed to be finetuned.

"Ang nangyayari lang ngayon is 'yung final stage ng testing for the signaling... in terms of signaling, na-late sila," Deo Manalo, MRT-OIC for Operations, said. —John Ted Cordero/NB, GMA News