The court has allowed former Czech envoy and Inekon group CEO to testify via teleconferencing.

The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan has allowed former Czech Ambassador to the Philippines Josef Rychtar and Inekon Group chief executive officer Josef Husek to testify via teleconferencing on the ongoing graft trial of former MRT-3 General Manager Al Vitangcol for alleged extortion over a maintenance contract.

Earlier, the court had refused the prosecution’s request to present the witnesses in Vitangcol’s two graft cases due to difficulty in bringing the witnesses to the country in the absence of a mutual legal assistance treaty or reciprocity agreement on criminal matters between the Philippines and the Czech Republic.

Rychtar is currently assigned to Santiago, Chile while Husek is currently in Prague, Czech Republic.

But after receiving printouts of electronic correspondence between the witnesses and prosecutors handling the case, the anti-graft court reversed its earlier decision.

The Sandiganbayan stressed Rule 10 in Section 1 of the Rules on Electronic Evidence is broad enough to include the presentation of testimonial evidence through video conferencing.

“The court, after examining the said printouts, and in the interest of justice, resolves to grant the prosecution’s motion. Said printouts, which essentially explained the reason for the inability of said witnesses to travel to the Philippines to testify in the present cases, do not constitute a part of the prosecution’s evidence,” the court said in a resolution penned by 6th Division Chairman Sarah Jane Fernandez.

Vitangcol is facing two counts of graft and one count of violation of the Government Procurement Act for allegedly demanding $30 million from Inekon officials in 2012 in exchange for the MRT-3 maintenance contract during a meeting at the Forbes Park residence of Rychtar who was then Czech ambassador to the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade yesterday said the independent audit and assessment for the entire MRT-3 system, including the 48 train cars from Dalian, China, has been completed.

“The audit is done. The report will be discussed with Dalian and please, let us not pre-empt the results. I will talk to you on the firm and final position on these trains once the discussion is finished,” Tugade told members of the media during a press briefing at the National Government Administrative Center site in Capas, Tarlac.

On January 3, TUV Rheinland, an independent certifier, started its safety audit on 48 train cars from Dalian, China. This independent audit will determine the extent of rehabilitation works that needed to be done on the MRT-3. At the same time, it also looked into the condition of the new Dalian coaches and their compatibility to the MRT tracks.

The 48 Dalian trains were delivered in 2016 but remained unused due to compatibility issues. The new coaches were part of the MRT-3 expansion project aimed at decongesting the railway system and increasing its capacity to serve over 800,000 passengers daily.

Also, Tugade announced that Japanese company Sumitomo-MHI is expected to return in the next couple of months as the maintenance provider of MRT-3. This came after the exchange of note verbale in January 2018 between the governments of the Philippines and Japan, and advance discussions with Sumitomo-MHI on the MRT-3 Rehabilitation Project.