Vitangcol: Conviction a ‘miscarriage of justice’
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2020 07:00:37 +0000
FORMER Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3) General Manager Al Vitangcol 3rd condemned his conviction before the Sandiganbayan as a “miscarriage of justice”.
In an email to The Manila Times on Thursday, Vitangcol said he would “exhaust all legal remedies” to have his conviction overturned.
Vitangcol said he was convicted of something the law “does not punish”.
“In my case I was convicted of a crime of which the law does not even punish,” Vitangcol said.
“The law prohibits the relationship (up to third degree) between the bidder and the Head of the Procuring Entity (HOPE). I am not the HOPE but a mere end user representative of the MRT3. DoTC [Department of Transportation and Communication] was the procuring entity at that time.”
He described the Sandiganbayan decision as “mere inferences and assumptions by the ponente”.
Vitangcol also said he did not present any evidence during his trial and denied any conspiracy between himself and PH Trams incorporators. He also denied directing Arturo Soriano to join PH Trams.
Vitangcol and Soriano were convicted of graft by the Sandiganbayan on Thursday.
READ: Ex-MRT general manager Vitangcol convicted of graft
ARIC JOHN SY CUA