Newly appointed transportation undersecretary Noel Eli Kintanar was bashed on Friday, July 7, after giving an update on the arrival of new MRT trains.
The criticisms came online after radio station DZMM TeleRadyo tweeted Kintanar saying, “Umorder tayo ng 48 bagon. Sa ngayon, 8 ang dumating at patuloy na dumadating. Ito ang unang bahagi ng pag-aayos ng sistema.”
Facebook user Rj Barrozo was just one of the people who commented on the said quote from Kintanar. He posted about how it was former President Benigno Aquino III and former interior secretary Mar Roxas were responsible for ordering the new MRT trains and how Kintanar grabbed the credits for those trains.
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“Hahaha. Si Pnoy at Mar ang nagsaing. Si Kintanar ang kumain. Mahiya ka naman Kintanar. Yang 48 bagon na inaari mo ay order ni Roxas yan noong 2013 at nag start na delivery mula 2015 at 8 na ang naka deliver mula September 2015 pa ngayon. Parating na din yung iba. Umayon naman tong Ted Payon without verifying his facts,” Barrozo wrote.
The matter of credit grabbing has become a huge issue between the supporters of various political figures or parties. This could be why Kintanar’s announcement about the arrival of 8 new MRT trains was interpreted as credit grabbing, especially since he was appointed as the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) Undersecretary for Rails and Toll Roads under the new administration.
However, it is also worth noting that Kintanar is the head of the Ayala’s Business Development and Corporate Strategy as well as Executive Vice President at Ayala Corporations Infrastructure Holdings Corp. He acted as Ayala’s point man every time the corporation participates in the bidding of major Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects during the Aquino administration.
After the bashing, The Silent Majority (TSM) founder Jozy Acosta-Nisperos posted an apology to Kintanar on Facebook, on behalf of the group, some members of which were probably among those who called him out after the DZMM tweet that was taken out of context. TSM campaigned for Mar Roxas and Vice President Leni Robredo during the 2016 elections.
“During the campaign, RORO supporters were very conscientious about the truth. We questioned memes, sought context, verified sources.
Let’s continue that culture post-elections. Let’s not pass judgment on someone based on a solitary line or on who he works for.
Current DOT Usec Kintanar was a partner – through an Ayala Corp. subsidiary where he was AVP – of the PNoy administration in various infrastructure projects, including the portions of the MRT and expressways as shown below (note the datestamp). He was tapped by [Art] Tugade to provide expertise and historical knowledge. I was informed that Mar [Roxas] himself urged him to accept the position given his great reluctance.
I believe when he said “tayo” he meant “we, the Philippines.” Those who actually heard the interview said that the context was the previous DOTC-Ayala Team where he belonged. In that interview, Ted Failon was trying to pin him down and ruin him together with the PNoy admin.
In that context, our accusations of credit-grabbing is pretty comical, no? We owe Mr. Kintanar a huge apology.
Mr. Kintanar is in a delicate situation. He wants to do good for the country in a very polarized political environment – he has to work WITH the current admin and not seem to be still loyal to the previous one. I thought the use of the word “tayo” – in context – was actually very wise as it was inclusive. It was neither credit-grabbing nor defensive.
In future, let us be more circumspect. Madali naman po ang mag-google at mag-check ng LinkedIn or FB profile. Let’s remember what we stood for and took pride in during the campaign.
DZMM has taken down that tweet in the belated realization that the line was taken out of context. We have done the same of the bashing done of him in TSM. I hope those who shared that post will take it down too. Let us be humble in correcting our mistake and restoring the credibility of a man which we so thoughtlessly ripped apart.
By the way, Mr. Kintanar is RORO and a TSM member.”
At least Acosta-Nisperos and other TSM members were ready to acknowledge the mistake that was committed against Kintanar after he got a bashing that he did not deserve at all. And here’s to hoping that Kintanar will continue in the search for solutions to solve the long queues at our train stations in Metro Manila.
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