By Ellson Quismorio
The Department of Justice (DOJ), through the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), ought to conduct a deeper probe on the circumstances behind the unauthorized replacement of the Vehicle Logic Units (VLUs) inside the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT 3) trains.
(Mark Balmores / MANILA BULLETIN/FILE PHOTO)
Assistant Majority Leader Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) Partylist Rep. Jericho Nograles made the statement today or a few days after a technical glitch resulted in a fire in one coach of the 19-year-old train system.
Nograles said the Department of Transportation (DOTr), which manages the MRT 3, should also tap the DOJ to find out why only one out of the 73 MRT 3 coaches is equipped with the original Bombardier VLU.
The rest were allegedly outfitted with "chop suey" and unauthorized parts.
Nograles earlier described the VLUs as the "brain" and the primary automatic safety device for MRT 3 Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) or coaches.
"The VLU is a very important component of the LRV. The glitches on the MRT 3 including the fire that broke out in one of the coaches recently is a result of incompatible parts that were installed on the train system," he said.
"Whoever is responsible for removing the original parts and replacing them with fake ones should be held criminally liable. I think that that NBI should already step in and get into the bottom of this," the solon reckoned.
The fire incident took place Friday in what has been a long list of technical glitches on the train line.
Nograles, who was instrumental in the termination of the problematic P3.8-billion maintenance deal between MRT 3 and Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI), said these glitches and breakdowns will persist mainly due to the replacement of the VLUs with "fake" ones.
Nograles said that while he is thankful the DOTr under Secretary Arthur Tugade moved to terminate the contract of BURI and blacklisted it from conducting other businesses with the agency, it is very important for the fake and unauthorized parts to be removed and replaced with original parts.
NBI should step in
Documents obtained by the solon showed that only car number 63 is still equipped with the proprietary VLU manufactured by the Canadian firm Bombardier Transportation Signal Ltd. "Proprietary" means the VLUs were designed especially for MRT-3
According to the official inventory conducted on all of the 73 cars, it showed that except for car number 63, all other units were equipped with either ABB, ABB-Daimler-Benz or Daimler Chrysler-branded VLUs.
Nograles said the resulting mismatch of these safety devices could cause interface problems on the entire system.
Even more suspicious according to the House leader is the fact that none of the MRT 3 officials, including its previous maintenance provider, can make a categorical explanation on why the Bombardier VLUs were taken down, when they were taken down and who gave the order to take them down.
"This is a big mystery that the NBI should solve. There is something very sinister on this removal of the VLUs and the people behind it should be held criminally liable," he said. The NBI is an attached agency of the DOJ.
"If the Bombardier VLUs were defective, why didn't they ask Bombardier to fix or replace them instead of installing fake parts?" Nograles asked.
MRT 3 maintenance was originally handled by Japanese firm Sumitomo. However, when the Aquino administration took over, the train maintenance chores were taken over by PH -Trams-CB&T for six months, then by Global Epcom-Apt, followed by Global EpCom-SBI-CB&T.