SENATOR Francis Escudero is urging President Benigno Aquino III to dismiss Transportation and Communication Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya over the bullet-planting scandal at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Escudero said Abaya, who he tagged as "a protégé and party mate of administration bet Manuel Roxas II," had no right to stay in his post any longer with all the problems hounding the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).
Roxas, who running against Escudero's running mate, Senator Grace Poe, in next year's presidential race preceded Abaya at DOTC.
Under Abaya's supervision, the senator said the country continued to face problems like "tanim-bala" scheme, glitches in Metro Rail Transit and airport facilities, traffic congestion, poor Internet connection and exorbitant mobile fees, and delays in license plates, car stickers and driver’s license cards.
Escudero said he was appalled at how the DOTC "had become a source of embarrassment for the administration" because of Abaya.
"Since Abaya took the helm of the DOTC, whose mandate is to ensure a fast and reliable communications service, as well as a safe and efficient sea, air and land transportation system, there had been no noticeable improvement in the services provided by the department," Escudero said.
"The problems confronting the DOTC are a reflection of Abaya’s insensitivity to the plight of the people and his lack of grasp of the issues in the transportation and communications sectors," he added.
For the remaining months of the current administration, Escudero said Abaya could not solve all the problems the DOTC is facing.
He said the President should no longer prolong the public's agony and instead fire Abaya for his negligence.
"Instead of waiting for him to resign, President Aquino should fire him because it is clear that what he’s doing is almost equivalent to a crime," the senator said.
Aquino has already ordered an investigation on the bullet-planting incidents at NAIA. (Sunnex)