Former Metro Light Rail Transit 3 General Manager Al Vitangcol has been cleared by the Sandiganbayan of the two graft cases filed against him in connection with the MRT 3 maintenance contract granted to a company connected to his in-laws during his tenure in the rail line.
Vitangcol was cleared after the Sandiganbayan’s Sixth Division granted Vitangcol’s demurrer to evidence.
A demurrer to evidence is a petition asking the court to decide the case solely on the basis of the evidence presented by the prosecution while challenging such evidence to prove that it is not enough to merit conviction.
Vitangcol welcomed the dismissal of his graft charges.
“It [acquittal] is long overdue. From the beginning, this has been a harassment case,” he said.
“The Sandiganbayan gave the prosecution so much leeway but in the end, the truth prevailed,” he added.
The Sandiganbayan said Vitancol was cleared “for insufficiency of evidence.”
The court also ordered the lifting of the hold departure order against Vitangcol, and at the same time, ordered the release of the cash bond he posted.
In 2015, the Ombudsman filed the cases against Vitangcol following public a outcry over the service breakdown of MRT 3 that operates on Epifanio delos Santos Avenue.
During his watch at the MRT 3, the rail system entered into a one-year maintenance with the PH Trams-CB&T Builders, a joint venture that mandated the system to pay the contractor US$1.5 million a month for the upkeep of MRT 3.
At the time the contract was granted to PH Trams-CB&T, the joint venture only had P19.9 million in capital and one of its incorporators, Arturo Soriano, was Vitangcol’s uncle-in-law, prosecutors said.
The Ombudsman added that Vitangcol did not disclose his relationship to Soriano to the MRT 3 Bids and Awards Committee.
On May 17, the Sixth Division of the anti-graft graft court granted Vitangcol’s petition of leave of court to file demurrer to evidence and gave Vitangcol 10 days to supplement or amend the demurrer attached in the motion.
Vitangcol faces a separate case at the Sandiganbayan owing to his alleged attempt to extort $30 million from representatives of the Inekon Group, a Czech rail maintenance company.