Former Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) administrator Melquiades Robles has sought the dismissal of his graft case over the anomalous maintenance and janitorial contract which allegedly caused P12.8 million injury to government.
Robles was supposed to be arraigned on Wednesday for violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. But this was deferred because the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has yet to rule on his motion for judicial determination of probable cause.
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In his motion, Robles said there was no probable cause in the graft case filed against him for the alleged disadvantageous joint venture contract with COMM Builders and Technology Philippines Corp,, PMP Inc., and Gradski Soabracaj GRAS.
LRTA entered into the P400 million contract in 2009 for the corrective maintenance of the trains, rails, and depot facilities of LRT Line 1.
Under the contract, the joint venture was mandated to deploy at least 793 workers and janitors to the areas of the LRT line stations and rolling stocks.
Also charged in the case were members of the LRTA Technical Working Group and Special Bids and Awards Committee.
Prosecutors accused them of acting with 鈥渆vident bad faith, manifest partiality, and gross inexcusable negligence鈥� in letting the LRTA pay P3.373 million per month in 2009 for the deployment of 219 janitors 鈥� even though the terms of contract require a minimum number of 321 janitors.
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This effectively modified the terms of the contract, causing undue injury to government in the amount of P1.072 million per month for a total of P12.864 million in 2009 alone.
But Robles, through his lawyers, said there was no basis in fact and in law that the contract was disadvantageous to government.
He said that the prosecutors鈥� claim that the underdelivery of manpower was corroborated by a database record of the human resources department could not be ascertained because this database was not attached in the Field Investigation Office (FIO) complaint against Robles.
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鈥淭he fact that the alleged database record was neither attached nor subsequently submitted by the FIO before the Ombudsman reveal a glaring truth: that there is no database to speak of,鈥� his motion read.
This meant that the allegation that only 219 janitors applied for gate passes 鈥渋s, in reality, anchored on nothing but thin air.鈥�
Robles also insisted that the underdelivery of janitors who applied for gate passes in 2011 happened outside his term as LRTA administrator, which ended in 2010.
鈥淩obles was no longer a part of LRTA when the supposed anomaly happened,鈥� his motion read.
Robles said the allegation of underdelivery of personnel 鈥渋s clearly unsubstantiated.; at best, such argument is a mere biased assumption.鈥�
In the joint resolution indicting the LRTA officials, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said the joint venture 鈥渋s not justified to deviate from its minimum commitment鈥� under the contract.
Morales said she found it 鈥渦nfortunate鈥� that the LRTA officials 鈥渁ided the contractor in its desire to reduce its committed number of janitorial workforce.鈥�
鈥�(They.) cannot sweepingly claim that they had regularly performed their duties because had they done so, they would not have given in to the demands of a private contractor鈥� Instead of pushing for the implementation of the awarded contract, the respondents agreed to the reduction of janitorial manpower,鈥� Morales added. /atm