'Don't blame Teodoro on boat purchase'

MANILA, Philippines - An official of the defense department clarified yesterday that Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, who is also chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), had authorized the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) as early as last March to purchase 100 rubber boats for search and rescue operations during typhoons and other calamities.

Defense Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Strategic Concerns Alberto Valenzuela dismissed reports that Teodoro should be blamed for the failure of the OCD to buy the Rigid Hull Inflatable Rubber Boats (RHIBs) that could have been used during the floods caused by tropical storm “Ondoy” that ravaged Metro Manila and nearby provinces last Sept. 26. The OCD is an agency directly under the supervision of the NDCC.

“Defense Secretary Teodoro authorized the procurement of RHIBs as early as March 6, 2009 through negotiated procurement if necessary, records at the Department of National Defense (DND) showed,” Valenzuela said.

Valenzuela said Teodoro’s handwritten note bore the condition for the procurement: “If bidding cannot be expeditiously done, why can we not bid and have delivery within four months.”

Teodoro came under attack for reportedly causing delay in the procurement of the rubber boats, which could have been used during rescue operations in Metro Manila.

“There is no basis for the allegation that Secretary Teodoro delayed the procurement of the RHIBs,” he said.

The OCD, which was then under Anthony Golez, now one of the presidential deputy spokesmen, decided to conduct a public bidding to ensure transparency and accountability, after Teodoro signed the Acquisition Decision Memorandum No. 2009-003, Valenzuela said.

Valenzuela said that as of December 2008, OCD had distributed 182 RHIBs and Inflatable Rubber Boats (IRBs) to various local government units, government agencies and the OCD’s regional offices, since they are the NDCC’s frontline operators.

He said that poor LGUs in flood-prone areas were given priority for the rubber boats.

“Local government units who have more resources are capable of buying their own boats,” he said.