Lorenzana: Bong Go did not meddle in Navy's frigate deal

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzan on Wednesday denied that Special Assistant to the President Christopher "Bong" Go meddled in the Philippine Navy's multibillion-peso frigate acquisition project.

In a statement, the Department of National Defense said that Lorenzana was "confirming" that there was no intervention or interference from Go to favor a South Korean firm in supplying the combat management systems of the ships the Navy was acquiring from Hyundai Heavy Industries as part of the military's modernization program.

"The Secretary of National Defense is confirming that no intervention or interference by Sec. Bong Go happened," the defense department said.

"There was neither hint nor guidance from the Palace or from Sec. Bong Go to influence the implementation of the project," it said.

The DND also rejected the call of Rep. Gary Alejano (Magdalo) to rescind the P18-billion frigate acquisition program with HHI, saying that none of the specific conditions that would warrant the termination of the project under Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act was present.

It said that the anomalies Alejano enumerated in his privilege speech at the House of Representatives on Monday were "mere allegations and innuendos" which were not legal grounds for a contract termination.

Alejano alleged on Monday that Malacañang was dipping its hands into the Navy's acquisition of ships to buttress its ailing feet.

He said that Navy Flag Officer in Command Ronald Joseph Mercado's relief could be because of his stance on the project and stressed that the Navy chief could not be removed without the imprimatur of the Palace.

Alejano said that HHI's failure to adhere to the specifications of the Navy for its frigates was imperiling the AFP's modernization project and compromising Philippine national interest.

The former Marine officer said that Mercado was removed from office, so the Navy's Technical Inspection and Acceptance Committee would accept HHI's design which was non-compliant with the details of the contract.

He said that the DND insisted on using the CMS of Hanwha Systems of South Korea despite the Navy's preference for the system of Thales Tacticos of Netherlands. The CMS integrates the weapons, sensors, communication and navigation systems of a ship.

Go issued a denial of the allegations on Tuesday, insisting that he did not intervene in the procurement project. He also referred queries about the issue to Lorenzana.

News agencies reported that Go handed Lorenzana a white paper expressing preference for Hanwha to provide the ships' CMS.

Lorenzan then gave Mercado the paper with a note asking the then Navy chief to provide a report or rebuttal to the document from Go.

According to the DND, Lorenzana assumed that the document came from Go, also the chief of the Presidential Management Staff, since it was given to him at Malacañang.

"It should be noted that the one of the tasks of the PMS includes the official routing and endorsement of documents to government agencies concerned, for appropriate action," the DND said.

The defense chief said that the white paper came from Hanwha, and it was forwarded to Mercado who in turn gave it to Commodore Robert Empedrad, then-chairman of the Frigate Project Management Team.

Empedrad wrote a reply to the white paper, according to the DND, stating the preferred CMS of the Navy.