36 PNP personnel, suppliers probed for PNP 'ghost' repairs

MANILA, Philippines - Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo ordered an investigation of at least 36 police officers and personnel and six suppliers for alleged conspiracy in the rigged bidding and “ghost” repair of 28 V-150 Light Armored Vehicles (LAV) in 2007.

Meanwhile, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Avelino Razon Jr. denied colluding with PNP officers and personnel in connection with the questionable transaction. PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo earlier ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to summon Razon and six other ranking police officers to shed light on the issue.

“I welcome the conduct of the investigation of the CIDG and possibly of the Senate hearing…while it’s good that we are pursuing the transformation of the PNP, to make it more credible and capable, we should be very careful and circumspect in not just arriving at hasty conclusion and hasty accusation to protect individuals and the very organization, the PNP, that we serve and once served,” Razon said.

Also to be investigated are former police director Eliseo dela Paz, who was among the so-called "euro generals", and former PNP deputy director general Reynaldo Varilla.

Among the six suppliers is Harold Ong of Enviro-Aire Inc. who was also involved in the alleged irregular acquisition of rubber boats.

Robredo said the National Police Commission should also conduct a parallel probe and initiate the filing of administrative charges against police officers involved in the scam.

“The truth is the alleged irregularity on the repair of V-150s is so far the biggest with more or less P409 million. The cost of the repair was about P398 million while the remaining P9 million supposedly to cover the transportation was diverted and used to by chlorox,” Robredo said.

Based on the initial findings of a PNP fact-finding committee, Robredo said all the police officers and civilians involved appeared to have colluded with each other in violating the Government Procurement Act of 2002 or Republic Act 9184, and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. 

“In the process of violating RA 9184 and the Accounting Rules and Regulations, many of the concerned PNP officers and suppliers committed falsification of documents, usurpation of authority and technical malversation. This could not have happened if there was no collusion between and amongst the bidders and the PNP personnel involved,” the DILG chief said.

He said the violations include the non-conduct of the mandatory pre-procurement conference; no bidding documents as required by law, the publication (in a non-existent or questionable newspaper) was insufficient in terms of the period required, the eligibility qualifications of the suppliers were neglected, the awards were divided, no contracts between supplier and PNP were made and an abstract was used where the same is nowhere to be found in the rules and regulation of RA 9184.

Robredo said investigators also found out that the transactions were expeditiously or almost hurriedly accomplished – taking only two to six calendar days from publication to bidding itself; and three to seven days from the public bidding to the issuance of the checks for payment to the suppliers.

The fact-finding panel also found out that there was neither actual delivery nor replacements made on the engines and transmission for the combat vehicles by the supplier RJP International, which was paid out with P84 million.