DOTr Moves for Termination of MRT-3's BURI Contract, Claims Contract is Void Ab Initio

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) today expressed its firm stance to terminate the maintenance contract for MRT-3 with Busan Universal Rails Inc. (BURI), stating that the contract was void from the beginning.

During an inquiry by the House of Representatives' Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chaired by Rep. Johnny Pimentel, DOTr officials stated that the maintenance contract with BURI is questionable and void ab initio.

DOTr Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Procurement Reiner Paul Yebra said that his office has already recommended the termination of the BURI contract and is now awaiting for report verification by MRT-3. 

Usec. Yebra said that his office will also consider blacklisting BURI from participating or entering into any contract with the government, as suggested by Rep. Pimentel.

He said his office is likewise reviewing the filing of appropriate charges against those involved in the MRT-3 maintenance deal before the Office of the Ombudsman.

During the inquiry, DOTr MRT-3 officials also belied claims of BURI that it did not bill the government for two Vehicle Logic Units (VLUs), amounting to PHP 4 million.

A VLU, which costs PHP 2 million each, is part of the Automatic Train Protection system, which according to Atty. Hernando Cabrera of the DOTr Railways Sector, is the "heart and soul" of the safety operations of any train system. The VLU controls the speed and brakes of a train to avoid over speeding, keeps safe distance between trains, and applies brakes to avoid collisions.

DOTr MRT-3 showed to the Committee documents from BURI showing that the firm has billed the government for the 2 VLUs. 

DOTr MRT-3 also provided documents showing that BURI already installed the VLUs in car nos. 6 and 63. 

Further, it was revealed during the hearing that BURI was only issued its Certificate of Incorporation from the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) after it was awarded the MRT-3 maintenance contract. 

"DOTC awarded the (maintenance) contract to BURI on Dec 23, 2015 but such consortium was only registered to SEC January 4, 2016. Hindi lang fake ang spare parts. Fake din ang contract," Pampanga Congressman Dong Gonzales said.

The House Committee asked DOTr MRT-3 to submit all documents, including the maintenance contract signed during the previous administration and a list of names involved in the approval of the contract, who will then be summoned to the Committee's next hearing.

The Committee also asked DOTr MRT-3 to submit its own investigation report before the next hearing.

The DOTr recently withheld the payment of the VLUs due to the failure of BURI to provide the necessary supporting documents such as the Factory Inspection Report and Certificate of Origin.

Ready, Get Set, Let's Go to Komiket!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Filipino Komiks Art Market (KOMIKET) will launch its biggest event of the year from October 14 to 15 at Centris Elements, EDSA corner Quezon Avenue, Quezon City.

Over 450 komiks creators, illustrators and writers, ready to share their newest works, will be present during the event. Meet and greet Komiks Superstars Arnold Arre, Gerry Alanguilan, Pol Medina Jr., and Manix Abrera, social media heavyweights Hunghang Flashbacks, Sskait and Libreng Komiks, art market favorites Gwapings ng Komiks, Ilustrador ng Kabataan, Patay Kung Patay, first-time creators from the 3rd Comic Book Creator’s Workshop, among others.

The first 1,000 attendees will get a free copy of KOMMUNITY, a komiks collection from some of the creators of the local komiks community. Artists and readers will unite at the KOMIKET TALKS: Readers Meet Creators. At least ten book club communities will meet and discuss with the creators for the first time. Get first dibs on the latest releases and bring home stickers, postcards, prints, zines and books in this affordable art market. 

Tickets are priced at 100 pesos each. Check out the Komiket Facebook page for more details.

Viber Celebrates Two-Year Anniversary of its Deleted Messages Feature, with Over 5 Billion Times Users Were Saved from Embarrassment

Viber, one of the world’s leading messaging apps is celebrating the two-year anniversary of Deleted Messages, which officially launched in November 2015. As of today, Viber announces that users have deleted a total of five billion messages thus far.

Viber understands that everyone has those moments when you hit send but realize you’ve sent the message or photo to the wrong person, or that you should have used a different word! For the past two years, Viber has prided itself on being the app that forgives and forgets, so you never need to worry if you accidentally send your boss a “NSFW” photo.

Viber’s Deleted Messages feature allows users in both one-on-one conversations and group messages to delete a message sent by accident immediately. Viber’s unique functionality allows users to delete messages for up to two weeks, even if a message had previously been read. Viber keeps an in-chat trace to let users know on each side if a message was deleted. The company is planning to roll out advanced features in the near future pertaining to this function.

Since its inception, Viber’s innovative technology has created market standards for others. Viber most recently launched its Chat Extension feature at the end of 2016, which allows users to access a range of top tier content through services like YouTube, Spotify, Vice, Booking.com and GIPHY from within the chat window to search, share and consume, eliminating the need for users to toggle between apps.

“Here at Viber, we are proud that users are enjoying the innovative features of our app, like our Delete Messages functionality,” says Djamel Agaoua, Viber CEO. “We love hearing personal anecdotes from users how this feature saved their reputation. We are very flattered to see other apps are following Viber’s path, and are introducing their takeoffs of Viber’s innovations that’s available for our users for a while. I’m certain the exciting features we have launched this year like our super popular chat extensions will continue to create an industry benchmark in the future.”