The former general manager of the Metro Rail Transit 3, Al Vitangcol, this week asked the Supreme Court to tell the Sandiganbayan to stop trying him for graft with regard to the troubles of the rail line traversing Edsa.
Vitangcol is in trouble because one of the incorporators of PH Trams, the company that was engaged by the agency to undertake maintenance of the MRT, is his wife’s uncle. He says the Sandiganbayan is zeroing in on the conflict of interest issue when in fact, his former superiors Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and, before him, Secretary Manuel Roxas II, among others, should be held equally accountable for the decrepit state of the MRT.
Hundreds of thousands of commuters use the MRT every day despite the fact that it has been poorly maintained, with one malfunction or other occurring regularly. In 2014, a train derailed and slammed into the barriers and onto the street below, injuring dozens.
The issue has been a sore point among residents of the capital. And now Vitangcol says he is being sacrificed to placate the public’s feelings as the more culpable officials are getting away despite their gross and inexcusable inaction, if not willful and deliberate manipulation of the events and processes related to the maintenance of the rail system.
Meanwhile, those from the camp of Roxas and Abaya dismiss this as political vendetta—squid tactics that are convenient especially now that Roxas is running for president.
In some respects, Vitangcol is in a better place than his former superiors. He at least acknowledges that there is a mess over at the MRT, and he was part of the group responsible for it. Where he is unfortunate is in the fact that he is “only” a Vitangcol. He is small fry compared to the names of his big bosses who should be protected at all costs.
The former GM likely does not relish the idea of being the fall guy, but somebody has to play the part. This is how it is: In the public transport sector, in police operations gone awry, in the illegal disbursement of public funds, there are other fall guys languishing in jail—or bad esteem—alone for the sins of the many.
They are not any less guilty or any more deserving of leniency. This should teach all of them a lesson to not participate in shady transactions in the first place. It’s always going to be their necks out there, not anybody else’s.