BAYAN Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate has called on the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to return the Dalian trains to China and charge the people behind its procurement.
The call was made days after the argument between House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Metro Trail Transit 3 (MRT3) General Manager Rodolfo Garcia during the House transportation committee hearing last Wednesday, January 31, over the planned use of the Dalian trains to augment the lack of trains operating at the glitch-plagued MRT3.
Garcia offered to resign after his insistence to use the Dalian coaches, which the Speaker refused to buy.
Zarate believes that the officials of the previous administration should be held liable for the purchase of the Dalian coaches in 2016, under Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, as part of the MRT3 capacity expansion project.
Not one coach has been used due to issues on the signaling system and compatibility.
"Dapat talagang ibalik na sa China ang Dalian trains. Dapat nga isama na at sampahan ng kaso ang mga opisyal ng dating Aquino administrasyon katulad nina Abaya, et. al. at lahat ng mga kakutsaba nila sa maanomalyang transaksyong ito," he said.
"Pero mas higit pa, dapat din panagutin ang mga opisyal ng present DoTr (Department of Transportation) officials ng Duterte administration dahil sa pagtuloy-tuloy nila sa kapalpakang ito," he added.
Zarate believes that the issue is not just about the incompetence of the officials of the MRT, but graft and corruption at the train system.
According to the DOTr, the MRT3 is only using 10 coaches to date.
These accommodate more than 300,000 passengers a day, far from the the train system's original specification to serve 300,000 passengers with at least 20 coaches. (VoxPop Philippines)
