By JOSEPH HOLANDES UBALDE
Interaksyon.com
AN official of the Philippine National Police who is part of the committee overseeing the purchase of three helicopters in 2009 said they were deceived by the firm that sold them the overpriced aircrafts.
Chief Superintendent Herold Ubalde, PNP director for legal services and member of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), said Manila Aerospace Products Trading Corporation (MAPTRA), the winning bidder in the helicopter contract, fooled them in the transaction.
According to Ubalde, in the supply contract, the PNP asked for brand new helicopters but the bid documents showed the aircrafts were in “service center condition” or used.
“On the estafa aspect, it would appear that way. There seems to be no meeting of the minds here. It would appear that there would be estafa,” Ubalde said during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s probe into the anomalous transaction on Thursday.
But Maptra denied fooling the PNP. “My client has no capacity to deceive the PNP,” said lawyer Luis Rivera, Maptra’s legal counsel.
Senator Franklin Drilon requested that Maptra’s owners be made present
in the next Senate hearing to answer the allegations.
Earlier this month, Senator Panfilo Lacson exposed the anomalous September 24, 2009 purchase by the PNP of three helicopters that were only refurbished to appear new. He said top police officials were behind the acquisition of the aircrafts, two of which were grossly marked up by at least six times the standard price.
Based on his investigation, Lacson found out that two Robinson R44 Raven 1 model choppers (with body numbers RP-4375 and RP-4250) had already been used by several people including the former President and her family as well as some lawmakers and celebrities before it was sold as brand new to the PNP.
According to Ubalde, the three helicopters were then delivered to the PNP in November 2009. He said he was instructed to look into the choppers’ condition two months ago.
Senator Serge Osmena III quizzed Ubalde why it took so long for the PNP to detect something anomalous in the transaction.
“It took you two years to discover?” Osmena asked.
Ubalde earlier admitted that they were not very careful in the procurement of the three helicopters from Maptra. When Lacson asked him if there was “due diligence” from the PNP in the transaction, Ubalde replied: “It appears there is none.”
Police Director Luizo Ticman, of the PNP Negotiation Committee, said that he was unaware of the nitty-gritty of the helicopter contract.
Ticman admitted though that he did not see the proposal because he was “relying on the secretariat, technical working group and legal.”
Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chair Teofisto Guingona III and Lacson grilled Ticman on the procurement of the choppers. They inquired whether the PNP was forced into the contract by “powerful people at that time.” But Ticman denied being coerced into the transaction.
“The basis for my decision is the decision of the bids and awards committee. Nobody ordered me. No one forced me,” Ticman said.
“Dahil sila po ang mas competent. That is within their competency,” Ticman said.
But Guingona was irked by Ticman’s statement and said that it was very obvious that based on the flight logs, the choppers being sold to the PNP had already been flown for more than 300 hours, a sign that they were pre-owned.
“You don’t have to be competent, you just have to have common sense,” Guingona said.
