DOTr MRT-3 Procures Independent Safety Auditor to Decide on 48 Dalian Trains’ Fate

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Transportation Metro Rail Transit-3 (DOTr MRT-3) has completed the procurement of an Independent Audit and Assessment (IAA) Consultant, that will evaluate and make recommendations on what to do with the 48 cars or Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) that have already been delivered by CRRC Dalian, in addition to evaluating and making recommendations for other components of MRT-3.

DOTr OIC Undersecretary for Railways TJ Batan said that last 3 January, the first working day of 2018, the DOTr MRT-3 Team already met with TUV Rheinland, the winning IAA Consultant.

TUV Rheinland, a German firm established in 1872, met the high qualifications set — ISO 17020 and ISO 17065 certification, and membership in the International Federation of Inspection Agencies (IFIA). Other similarly qualified firms that participated were TUV SUD and Bureau Veritas.

Commenting on whether the 48 LRVs will be used, Usec. Batan said in a press conference held yesterday, 10 January 2018, at the MRT-3 Depot, “Na-deliver na po yung mga bagon, but we are unable to accept them unless our IAA Consultant has certified their safety and compatibility with our system.”

Usec. Batan noted that the DOTr has assured the IAA that they will not interfere or influence their assessment of the 48 LRVs.

“We will not in any way try to influence their independent assessment of the 48 cars from Dalian, at tayo po ay magdedesisyon base po sa kanilang recommendation. Kung sasabihin po nila na puwede po iyang patakbuhin ng kaagad-agaran, we will consider. Kung sasabihin po nila ay patatakbuhin yan na may kinakailangang adjustments, we will consider, of course not at our expense. At kung sasabihin po nila na kailangang ibalik yan, ibabalik po natin yan,” he added.

Earlier, concerns were raised with the 48 LRVs procured by the previous administration for P3.8 billion after they exceeded the weight prescribed in the Terms of Reference (49,700-kg vs. 46,300-kg). Compatibility with the MRT-3’s maintenance facilities and signaling system were also an issue.

Usec. Batan explained that with the current fleet of Czech-made trains, MRT-3 can operate up to 20 3-car trains. If the 48 LRVs are cleared to run, that can be increased to 20 4-car trains.

“Ang original design capacity po ng MRT-3 at peak hours is 20 3-car trains, running at 60-kph, with a 3-minutes headway. Ibig po sabihin niyan ay every 3 minutes dapat may dumarating na 3 bagon,” Usec Batan said.

“At the same time po, MRT-3 was also designed to be expandable to 20 4-car trains, running with a 2-minutes headway, or 4 na bagon kada 2 minuto. Yan po ang target natin, at kung sakali pong ma clear ng ating IAA Consultant ang 48 LRVs, ay mas maaga po nating magagawa yan,” he added.


Maintenance and Spare Parts

Spare parts for the maintenance of MRT-3 will start arriving in tranches from February to June, with MRT-3 having started to procure them last November 2017.

Batan said they will utilize the Holy Week break, during which there will be no operations, to conduct general maintenance works on MRT-3.

“Tuwing Holy Week tayo po ay nagsasagawa ng general maintenance sa buong MRT-3, at yan po ang tingin namin na mainam na target para madagdagan ang bilang ng mga tumatakbong bagon. Ito po ay dahil na rin sa inaasahan naming nakarating na ang marami sa mga spare parts na na-order na at patuloy pa nating inoorder para sa MRT-3,” he said.

Based on its contract, Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI), the previous maintenance provider, was supposed to have completed the general overhaul of 26 LRVs by November 2017. When they were terminated last November 6, BURI was only able to overhaul 3 LRVs, which is one of the causes for their termination.


No MRT-3 Fare Hike

Usec. Batan assured train commuters that there would be no fare increase while there is no substantial improvement of MRT-3 operations, restoring convenience to its thousands of patrons daily.

“Ang commitment po natin sa sektor ng riles ay hindi po tayo magtataas ng pasahe na hindi po nakakaramdam ang ating mga commuters ng improvement sa convenience, availability at reliability po ng ating mga sistema. hindi lang po dito sa MRT-3, kundi sa lahat ng sistema ng riles,” he said.

Updates on CHED K+12 Faculty Scholarship Allowances

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairperson Patricia B. Licuanan explained that only 4,096 faculty scholars under its local scholarships are experiencing delays in the release of living allowances, clarifying earlier reports that 9,500 scholars have been affected.

As of today, the Commission has fully released allowances for 2,051 scholars who have submitted complete documentary requirements, an ongoing effort since November 2017 following the resumption of the processing of allowances after the COA Notices of Suspension were issued.

Understanding the delays the Program has encountered, the Commission has also approved the partial release of living allowances for 1,011 scholars with valid contracts and enrolment forms, despite pending requirements. The balance will be released to these scholars upon submission of remaining documents to the CHED Regional Offices. Meanwhile, 933 scholars will receive no allowances due to non-submission of enrollment forms.

“We request our scholars with pending documentary submissions to please submit the remaining requirements to the CHED Regional Offices at the soonest possible time so that we can facilitate the release of allowances to our remaining grantees,” said the CHED Chairperson.

“We in CHED deeply regret the impact the delays has caused our scholars,” said Licuanan. “But it is important to understand the factors that contributed to these delays: among them, discrepancies and deficiencies in documents, the volume of documentation that required thorough vetting following initial audit, and the need to abide with government accounting and auditing rules, which we, as an agency, also had to comply with,” she continued.

“The Commission has not stopped in its review and improvement of current systems since the program began in 2016. In fact, refinements have been integrated into the system regularly following each semester, to reduce potential errors and causes of delays,” said Licuanan.

The K to 12 Transition Program began in 2016 to prevent the massive displacement of higher education faculty and staff, as a result of lesser workloads in colleges and universities due to the implementation of Senior High School (SHS), while upgrading the quality of higher education.

“Yes, there have been challenges, but we hope the public also sees what the Program has achieved as a whole: apart from the scholarships, CHED is also supporting 307 faculty members undergoing industry immersion, trained 3,792 college faculty for the new and enhanced curriculum, trained 6,494 teachers for Senior High School, developed 17 cutting-edge graduate programs with the top universities in the United Kingdom, awarded 201 institutional grants for colleges and universities, and 163 grants for research and extension, among others.”

Licuanan also denounced malicious allegations of corruption and mismanagement of funds allotted for the living allowances and other grants under the program. According to the Chairperson, “It has been my personal commitment to stamp out corruption in CHED since day one, despite the odds. We have implemented the Program with the highest level of ethical stewardship. Every peso is accounted for.”

Rise in Fraud Transactions at Banco de Oro (BDO) Alarming

Wazzup Pilipinas!

There has been a rise in fraud transactions involving Banco De Oro (BDO) depositors, specifically on ATM withdrawals and online transactions.

Depositors are bewildered upon discovering the loss of their money even to a point of almost zero balance.

“I do hope BDO will FIND WAYS to fix this... These banks who handle our hard-earned money should FIND WAYS and see to it that our money is secured.”

They finally admitted that there was a problem. I hope their handling of customers complaints improve. I experienced disconcern from branch personnel, and even told that it (unauthorized transaction) was partly my fault. They also denied any system glitches.

I cannot help thinking that in this time and in this world, no one is safe, and no place is safe. I save money so that during emergencies, I would have something to use. But it is frustrating and depressing that it would get loss even if you keep it in a trusted bank.

BDO will probably not make any commitment to return all the missing deposits because they know it would be a big loss for their bank once they started to pay off the aggrieved parties. ny single amount spent would affect their bottom line figure (net income)? That is how serious BDO is in terms of income loss due to fraudulent means?

Below is BDO's official statement as posted on their Facebook page:

To our valued clients,

In the recent months, there has been an increased number of clients that have experienced suspicious bank account transactions involving withdrawals and purchases done without their knowledge.

In the 4th quarter of 2017, we have seen an extraordinary rise in fraud attacks towards the entire industry with an increase in the number of claims for unauthorized transactions taking place in other countries.

We are currently running a thorough investigation process that involves tracing individual transactions, checking any irregularities and identifying signals of fraud from millions of valid transactions everyday. This challenging task is done to ensure that all cases are addressed accordingly, and that a resolution is served for all valid cases.

We also wish to remind you to keep your account information private, as well as to be mindful of people requesting for your personal account details through phone, SMS, email, or websites. Unscrupulous individuals and groups are constantly preying on unsuspecting clients to collect their bank information through skimming, phishing, social engineering, and other devious ways.

To help our affected clients, we encourage you to formally file a report via email (callcenter@bdo.com.ph), its international toll free number (IAC +800-8-631-8000), or its domestic hotline (631-8000).

Your account’s safety and security are our top priority.