Ebdane: We want local .45s

The Philippine National Police is inclined to procure caliber .45 handguns from a local manufacturer to better equip the 114,000-strong police force, PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said yesterday.

Ebdane issued the statement after gun dealers contested the PNP’s plan following reports that the agency is bending its bidding rules to favor a company owned by a cousin of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo to win the contract to supply P100 million worth of caliber .45 handguns.

Arms Corporation of the Philippines (Armscor) officials branded the allegations as black propaganda and said that this was an attempt by business rivals to discredit them.

Malacañang, for its part, denied knowledge of the allegations made by local gun dealers.

Ebdane said the PNP "would like to get the most number of firearms at the lowest price. This will be open to (a) pre-qualification (process), and preferably if we can have" locally manufactured firearms that meet international standards of quality, "the better."

When asked if the PNP prefers Armscor as a possible supplier, Ebdane said the local manufacturer is best qualified to supply the PNP’s need for caliber .45 handguns.

However, he added that all gun dealers will have to undergo the pre-qualification and bidding process before the PNP closes a deal with any supplier.

Unnamed dealers claimed the PNP changed the rules so that Armscor’s gun model, the Armscor 1911-A1, will be the only one accepted among the models being considered, even though the model failed in tests.

Another dealer speculated that the PNP leadership might be receiving pressure from "some groups" close to the First Gentleman to push the deal.

Armscor vice president Carlos Tuason belied allegations that the company has been exerting undue pressure on the PNP to be able to corner the contract.

"We have never asked any undue assistance from the First Family, neither have we been given. If there is something to be won, it is because of what we can do, not because we use influence to corner the deal," he said.

Another Armscor official, Gina Angangco, said their firm’s caliber .45 handgun passed the tests even during the time of President Fidel Ramos, but the PNP then favored the 9-mm. pistols.

They added that some local gun suppliers are badmouthing Armscor because they "are intimidated by our track record and the possibility of our breaking the foothold of the imported firearms at the PNP."

Tuason said the allegations were "malicious and irresponsible."

"We have been in business for over 50 years, and have established our reputation as manufacturers of high-quality firearms and ammunition at competitive prices," he said in a statement.

Tuason added, "We will not allow the vision and legacy built by our father, Celso Tuason, and continued by my brothers Demetrio and Severo and myself, to go down the drain by involving ourselves in any anomaly."

He explained that the PNP, following United States practice, switched to the 9-mm. pistol as its standard issue sidearm in the 1980s but "many law enforcement agencies in the US, like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, have gone back to the caliber .45 due to its stopping power."

Tuason challenged Armscor’s detractors to come out in the open and validate their allegations.

"To cast aspersions on (our) products and company on the basis of anonymous reports is highly unfair," he said.

Both Armscor officials said the company has been manufacturing firearms since 1952.

"We have been exporting to over 30 countries worldwide, and passed so many tests even abroad," Angangco said.

She added that Armscor, being a local company, is even helping the local economy by bringing the best of Filipino firearms to the rest of the world.

Tuason said Armscor’s biggest export market is the US, as its caliber .45 1911 handguns "have passed the rigorous test and evaluation of various states, including the strictest one, California."

Denying that Armscor had prior knowledge of the PNP’s plan to procure new caliber .45 handguns, Angangco said local policemen prefer caliber .45 handguns to the standard issue 9-mm. pistols.

"You ask your policeman on the street what they prefer to carry with them, you will find out that many of them personally buy caliber .45 (handguns) than 9-mm. (pistols)," she said.

PNP director for research and development Chief Superintendent Simeon Dizon claimed that he has not received any official report that the Armscor 1911-A1 failed tests conducted by his office.

Dizon explained that prior to a bidding, the PNP will be inviting gun dealers who want to join.

"Those who want to go for the bidding will have to go through a pre-qualification and test and evaluation," he said.

Meanwhile, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) chairwoman Ma. Livia Singson-de Leon denied that the agency approved and is set to release P100 million for the PNP’s purchase of the caliber .45 handguns.

Earlier reports said that Malacañang allegedly earmarked at least P100 million from the PCSO for the new guns.

"There’s no such plan or instruction from Malacañang, (not) even a request from them," De Leon told The STAR.

She explained that the PCSO is not authorized to release funds for the purpose of purchasing guns for the PNP.

"We’re not supposed to use PCSO funds for that purpose," De Leon said.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye, for his part, said Malacañang was not aware of the details of the reported complaints by local gun dealers.

"Perhaps, this should better be addressed to the PNP chief. We are referring the question to the chief of the PNP," he said. "That would be best answered by General Ebdane."

But police sources said the screening process for potential dealers will start in a few weeks.

"In general, there are bidding rules and for as long as bidding rules are followed, the winning bidder can always refer to the fact that the process has been meticulously followed," Bunye said.

He noted that "of course, you cannot prevent griping or sour-graping (from losing bidders)."

A source close to the First Gentleman told The STAR that Mr. Arroyo was both surprised and angered by this latest apparent attempt to drag him into another controversy.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out that Armscor has been in the arms business for more than 50 years, long before President Arroyo first served in government.

Armscor, one of the companies investigated by the Senate committee on defense chaired by then Sen. Ernesto Maceda for allegedly supplying defective handguns, proved its fairness in transacting business with the government during the inquiry, the source also said.

Director Ricardo de Leon, PNP community relations chief, earlier said the force plans to arm its special units with caliber .45 pistols by the end of the year. The plan will cost P20 million, he said.

Asked why the PNP was shifting back to the .45, De Leon said: "There are some units asking for caliber .45 pistols like the SWAT because of its stopping power."

De Leon denied the PNP was favoring any company. "It is not true that the rules are being tailored for Armscor," he said.

A source in the PNP’s directorate for research and development confirmed that the Armscor 1911-A1 model failed in several endurance tests. "In fact, it is about to undergo another re-evaluation," he said.

One gun dealer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the PNP will only endanger its personnel if they issue "substandard firearms."

Local gun dealers said shifting back to the seven-shot, caliber .45 pistol is a step backward in law enforcement. — With Pia Lee-Brago, Marichu Villanueva