By Samuel P. Medenilla & Butch Fernandez
Apparently outraged over the Philippine National Police’s purchase of allegedly overpriced radar speed guns, President Duterte on Monday night ordered the removal of the PNP power to procure equipment.
Speaking before members
of the Philippine Marine Corps in Taguig City, the President bared that he
called up Interior Secretary Eduardo Año and asked him to be in charge of the
purchasing of equipment, and firearms, instead.
Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson
backed Duterte’s decision, saying, “the President has all the reason to feel
aggrieved because he has always been generous to the PNP when it comes to
support, equipment, even salary, allowances, he gave them everything….”
Lacson, himself a former
PNP chief before his election to the Senate, added: “We cannot also blame the
President to feel that way. Regarding the legality of withdrawing [the deal], I
think the President can always do that, as long there is no violation of
Republic Act 9184, the procurement law. And rightly so, because if there is
such misbehavior when it involves public funds, it is just right to revoke the
authority.”
“I think an investigation is underway to determine who is
culpable, responsible for such procurement and overpricing. Imagine, kung
sarili niya kinompare niya procurement sa Davao, I only base this on
what I read…,” he said.
The radar speed gun, President Duterte added, was priced
at P950,000 per unit, which is significantly higher compared to the P10,000
per-unit price acquired by the Davao local government, to catch overspeeding
vehicles.
“I may be wrong, I said,
but [I told Interior Secretary] General Año yesterday [January 12], for his
office to get the [procurement power of PNP]. I will task him to do the
procurement and I expect no corruption,” Duterte said.
And if things still
don’t work out at the PNP, he said he will create a new bureau, which was
similar to that created by former President Ferdinand Marcos to handle
procurement processes.
“I will form the Bureau
of Supply. It will handle the purchase,” Duterte said.
He said he will task the
new bureau to list all the items to be purchased using international pricing,
which would then made known to the public.
“This will allow the
people what the government is buying,” the President said.
Presidential
spokesman Salvador S. Panelo, however, said he is unsure if Duterte’s
order will lead to the abolition of all of the procurement units of the PNP.
But he noted the
controversial procurement is now under investigation.
For its part, the PNP
explained Duterte may have “misunderstood” that what they were purchasing was
an ordinary speed gun instead of a expensive micro digital camera system.
The PNP, however, said it will still abide by Duterte’s order to transfer all of its procurement processes to the Department of the Interior and Local Government. With PNA
