By Camille Aguinaldo and Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, InterAksyon | News5 | November 23, 2017, 9:28 AM
(UPDATE 3 – 10:48 a.m.) Transportation Undersecretary for Rails Cesar Chavez announced his “irrevocable” resignation Thursday, November 23, over the woes that have been hounding the Metro Rail Transit Line 3, or MRT-3.
“In my seven years in the rail sector under two presidents, Presidents Arroyo and Duterte, I learned something: spare parts and management are replaceable,” Chavez said at a press briefing.
“Kung hindi nakakabili ng spare parts, nagkaka-aberya. Kung kulang ang performance ng management, nagkakaproblema (If we cannot buy spare parts, it breaks down. If management’s performance is wanting, problems arise). I am tendering my irrevocable resignation,” Chavez said.
“And I want … to give a chance to the President to appoint a new one. Salamat po sa tiwala (Thank you for the trust),” he added.
In a radio interview, Chavez said his resignation was effective immediately and that he had written his letter the day two MRT-3 coaches detached from a train.
He added that Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, whom he consulted on his planned resignation, tried to dissuade him.
“Kaya lang kailangang may managot eh. Tingin ko pananagutan ko rin naman ‘yung hinahanap ng publiko na hindi pa kaagad maiayos pati ‘yung aksidente. Kailangang may managot eh. At sa tingin ko pananagutan ko ‘yun kaya ako nag-tender ng irrevocable resignation bilang delicadeza.”
(But someone needs to be held accountable. I think I’m the person the public is looking to hold accountable for not fixing the trains immediately and the recent accident. Someone should be responsible. And I think that’s my responsibility so I tendered my irrevocable resignation out of propriety).
Reacting to Chavez’s resignation, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said it was “shocked” and asked if the DOTr official “was eased out and forced to resign because he won’t kowtow to certain vested interests?”
Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said Chavez “has been consistent in exposing the anomalies in various MRT contracts,” citing his work “with commuter groups and advocates” and for opening “the bidding processes to independent observers.”
“It therefore makes no sense that Chavez resigned right after the termination of the BURI contract,” Reyes said, referring to the now defunct deal making Busan International Railways Inc. the MRT-3’s maintenance provider.
“Chavez’s resignation does not bode well for the DoTr and may be reflective of conflicts within the department,” he added.
On Monday, Bayan filed a graft complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against Joseph Emilio Abaya, the Transportation and Communications Secretary of former President Benigno Aquino III, and also accused him and former officials of the agency with violating government procurement laws over the BURI contract, among others.
Senator Grace Poe also doubted “delicadeza” was the only reason Chavez resigned.
“He seemed to be one of the DOTr officials who was determined to fully address all the issues plaguing the MRT,” she said. “I recall he was instrumental in unearthing the persons involved in anomalies that caused these issues.”
At the same time, Poe said “it is time to evaluate the actions and the leadership of the DOTr as a whole in connection with how issues hounding the MRT have been addressed.”
Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate also weighed in on Chavez’s resignation, calling it “unfortunate” but “not surprising” given the “powerful economic and political interests that he stepped into while addressing the rotten and derailed MRT-3 rail system.”
Zarate predicted that the DOTr undersecretary’s resignation would bring “not an improvement, but an even worse MRT service.”
He called Chavez “”one of the more open public officials under the DOTr,” noting how he “often invites groups and people’s organizations to check or consult on how to deal with the rail problems in the country.”
At the same time, Zarate called the breakdown-plagued mass transport system “emblematic of the grave and utter failure of the government’s onerous privatization program and abandonment of its primary role and control of our public mass transportation system.”
Aside from technical glitches that saw trains stalling or breaking down on most days, earlier this month, Pasay City resident Angeline Fernando’s right arm was severed when she fainted and fell onto the coupler of an MRT train.
The limb was successfully reattached during surgery.
READ CHAVEZ’S RESIGNATION LETTER OBTAINED BY NEWS5:
(UPDATE 3 – 10:48 a.m.) Transportation Undersecretary for Rails Cesar Chavez announced his “irrevocable” resignation Thursday, November 23, over the woes that have been hounding the Metro Rail Transit Line 3, or MRT-3.
“In my seven years in the rail sector under two presidents, Presidents Arroyo and Duterte, I learned something: spare parts and management are replaceable,” Chavez said at a press briefing.
“Kung hindi nakakabili ng spare parts, nagkaka-aberya. Kung kulang ang performance ng management, nagkakaproblema (If we cannot buy spare parts, it breaks down. If management’s performance is wanting, problems arise). I am tendering my irrevocable resignation,” Chavez said.
“And I want … to give a chance to the President to appoint a new one. Salamat po sa tiwala (Thank you for the trust),” he added.
In a radio interview, Chavez said his resignation was effective immediately and that he had written his letter the day two MRT-3 coaches detached from a train.
He added that Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, whom he consulted on his planned resignation, tried to dissuade him.
“Kaya lang kailangang may managot eh. Tingin ko pananagutan ko rin naman ‘yung hinahanap ng publiko na hindi pa kaagad maiayos pati ‘yung aksidente. Kailangang may managot eh. At sa tingin ko pananagutan ko ‘yun kaya ako nag-tender ng irrevocable resignation bilang delicadeza.”
(But someone needs to be held accountable. I think I’m the person the public is looking to hold accountable for not fixing the trains immediately and the recent accident. Someone should be responsible. And I think that’s my responsibility so I tendered my irrevocable resignation out of propriety).
Reacting to Chavez’s resignation, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said it was “shocked” and asked if the DOTr official “was eased out and forced to resign because he won’t kowtow to certain vested interests?”
Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said Chavez “has been consistent in exposing the anomalies in various MRT contracts,” citing his work “with commuter groups and advocates” and for opening “the bidding processes to independent observers.”
“It therefore makes no sense that Chavez resigned right after the termination of the BURI contract,” Reyes said, referring to the now defunct deal making Busan International Railways Inc. the MRT-3’s maintenance provider.
“Chavez’s resignation does not bode well for the DoTr and may be reflective of conflicts within the department,” he added.
On Monday, Bayan filed a graft complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against Joseph Emilio Abaya, the Transportation and Communications Secretary of former President Benigno Aquino III, and also accused him and former officials of the agency with violating government procurement laws over the BURI contract, among others.
Senator Grace Poe also doubted “delicadeza” was the only reason Chavez resigned.
“He seemed to be one of the DOTr officials who was determined to fully address all the issues plaguing the MRT,” she said. “I recall he was instrumental in unearthing the persons involved in anomalies that caused these issues.”
At the same time, Poe said “it is time to evaluate the actions and the leadership of the DOTr as a whole in connection with how issues hounding the MRT have been addressed.”
Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate also weighed in on Chavez’s resignation, calling it “unfortunate” but “not surprising” given the “powerful economic and political interests that he stepped into while addressing the rotten and derailed MRT-3 rail system.”
Zarate predicted that the DOTr undersecretary’s resignation would bring “not an improvement, but an even worse MRT service.”
He called Chavez “”one of the more open public officials under the DOTr,” noting how he “often invites groups and people’s organizations to check or consult on how to deal with the rail problems in the country.”
At the same time, Zarate called the breakdown-plagued mass transport system “emblematic of the grave and utter failure of the government’s onerous privatization program and abandonment of its primary role and control of our public mass transportation system.”
Aside from technical glitches that saw trains stalling or breaking down on most days, earlier this month, Pasay City resident Angeline Fernando’s right arm was severed when she fainted and fell onto the coupler of an MRT train.
The limb was successfully reattached during surgery.
READ CHAVEZ’S RESIGNATION LETTER OBTAINED BY NEWS5:
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