Delay hampers gov’t plan to procure 21 helicopters

MANILA, Philippines - The government will not be able to realize its plan to acquire 21 UH-1 helicopters in time for the May elections due to delays in the procurement process, an official of the Department of National Defense (DND) said on Tuesday.

DND spokesman Peter Galvez said a technical team is still assessing the aircraft being offered by a US-based firm, Rice Aircraft Services Inc., the lone bidder for the project. 

The 21 helicopters were supposed to have been delivered last month but the schedule was not met as officials had to address some “technical issues.”

The helicopters would have enabled the government to meet airlifting requirements for the May polls including the delivery of election paraphernalia to far-flung areas.

Galvez said under the best scenario, the government would be able to acquire some of the helicopters and beef up the Air Force’s existing assets.

“If everything goes well, we can finalize the acquisition and hopefully get a partial delivery,” he told The STAR.

He said if the US-based supplier failed to meet the criteria set by DND’s technical team, no additional helicopters would be delivered before the elections.

“If our team disqualifies the supplier and if it thinks that the acquisition will be disadvantageous to the government, we won’t buy their helicopters,” said the DND spokesman.

The DND’s post-qualification team is currently in the US to inspect the helicopters. They are expected to return to Manila this weekend and to come up with the recommendations next week.

Rice bid P1.2646 billion for the supply of 21 helicopters. The amount was close to the P1.2649 billion allotted for the project, but was nevertheless accepted since it was lower than the approved budget.

Galvez clarified that the plan to acquire 21 UH-1 or Huey helicopters would still push through in case the US-based supplier would be disqualified. He said the DND would merely hold another bidding for the project.

“The helicopters can still be used for the operations of the Air Force and for disaster response,” Galvez said.

The Air Force said the delay in the acquisition of the helicopters would not hamper their operations.

“That will greatly improve our capabilities but the delay will not hamper our operations,” Air Force spokesman Col. Miguel Okol said.

The Air Force has 16 mission-capable Huey helicopters only, 51 units short of the ideal number of operational combat utility helicopters.