MRT chief: ‘I was relieved and I resigned’
MANILA, Philippines — General Manager Al Vitangcol confirmed Tuesday that he was relieved from his post at the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3).
But Vitangcol said during a hearing at the House of Representatives that he resigned when he knew he would be relieved.
“It is true that I was relieved and I resigned,” Vitangcol said in Filipino.
Transportation secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya added that only the President could take Vitangcol off his post.
“Vitangcol is a presidential appointee. The president can only take him out,” Abaya said.
Abaya added that he relieved Vitangcol when the beleaguered general manager supposedly failed to declare his relationship to a winning bidder for MRT.
A newspaper column revealed that one of the director-incorporators of winning bidder Phil Trams, Arturo Soriano, is Vitangcol’s uncle-in-law. This means Soriano is Vitangcol’s wife’s uncle.
“Based upon that conclusion, we immediately issued a special order to assign an officer-in-charge and relieve Mr. Vitangcol of his responsibility,” Abaya said.
Vitangcol said during the time when PhilTrams bidded for the project, Soriano had divested his shares in the company.
Vitangcol also said he directly asked his uncle-in-law to divest his interests in the project.
Vitangcol has also been accused by Czech Ambassador Josef Rychtar of demanding $30 million from Inekon Group so that the Czech train builder could corner the contract to supply 48 new MRT coaches.
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