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TRANSPORTATION Secretary Arthur Tugade on Wednesday accepted the resignation of Undersecretary for Rails Noel Kintanar amid the continuing criticism of potential conflicts of interest at the department. Kintanar is one of three Transportation deputies whose resignation was sought by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez who also expressed alarm over potential abuse in negotiated contracts under the department’s proposed special powers.
“Mr. Kintanar said he would like to give Secretary Tugade a free hand in addressing any and all misconceptions or doubts as to the impartiality and independence of the [department] in addressing the many issues and concerns on transportation,” the Transportation Department said in an emailed statement Wednesday.
Kintanar’s resignation will be effective on November 29, and it stemmed from his rather intimate relations with Ayala Corp.
Before his stint at the department, Kintanar was Ayala Corp.’s head of Business Development and Corporate Strategy and executive vice president of AC Infrastructure Holdings Inc.
He acted as point man of the Ayala Group in the public-private partnership bidding under the Aquino administration where it won a number of projects.
These were the P2.01-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway Link Project, the P65-billion LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension Project, and the P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System in partnership with Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
Tugade has yet to name Kintanar’s replacement.
Meanwhile, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Wednesday has raised an alarm over the negotiated contracts that would be covered by an emergency-powers package being sought by the Transportation department to solve the worsening traffic problem in the country.
He said in a radio interview that it would be difficult to pass the emergency powers bill that will give Tugade special powers for the next two to three years as his department has failed to present a detailed plan to solve the problem.
“We need a detailed plan so we will know what they really intend to do and what kind of emergency powers can we give,” said Alvarez who was a former Transportation chief and a principal author of the emergency powers measure.