A senior official of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has resigned from his post after his independence has been put in question.

In a statement on Wednesday, the department said Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade has accepted the resignation of Undersecretary for Rails Noel Kintanar.

Kintanar quit to give Tugade "a free hand in addressing any and all misconceptions or doubts as to the impartiality and independence of the DOTr in addressing the many issues and concerns on transportation," the statement said.

His resignation is effective on November 29.

In a congressional inquiry recently on the call of the administration for an emergency powers for President Rodrigo Duterte to address traffic, some lawmakers raised doubt on the impartiality of some DOTr executives, such as Kintanar, in awarding transport projects.

Kintanar was an assistant vice president and executive director at Ayala Corp., one of the companies in the country engaged in public-private partnership projects, such as the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway.

Tugade has said the Duterte administration will be engaged in building more infrastructure projects, including railway systems in Mindanao and Visayas, in the next five years. Celerina Monte/DMS