THE Philippine National Police (PNP) maintained on Tuesday, July 3, that it did not participate in the bidding as well as in the procurement of over 2,000 Mahindra patrol vehicles.
The vehicles, estimated to cost P1.5 billion, have been found to be substandard by the Commission on Audit (COA).
"The procurement of the Mahindra was not done by the PNP but by the procurement service of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)," PNP spokesperson Senior Superintendent Benigno Durana said.
"It is beyond us, the only thing that we've contributed is to set the specification (of the vehicles) based on the operational needs assesment the PNP conducted earlier," he added.
Durana said the PNP merely received the vehicles.
In the 2017 COA report, the agency called the attention of the PNP over the purchase of 2,045 Mahindra patrol units--- 1,656 Mahindra Enforcer and 398 Mahindra Scorpio light transport worth more than P1.8 billion.
Durana said the report is also based on the findings submitted to the agency by the PNP.
The COA report said the patrol vehicles were not fit for use in police operations due to frequent breakdowns, poor after sales services and limited availability of spare parts.
It also said that based on the accounts of police officers who were using the said vehicles, it consumes too much fuel compared to their other vehicles.
The said vehicles were purchased from the Columbian Autocar Corporation under the PNP's Capability Enhancement Program in March and December 2015, during the previous administration.
The Ombudsman had already launched a probe into the procurement of the vehicles while Senator Grace Poe, chairman of the Senate commitee on public services, has also expressed intention to open an investigation.
Durana assured that the PNP will cooperate in such investigation but noted that the DBM should also be part of the investigation.
"They (DBM) should be part of the (investigation). If ever there should be an investigation, not only the PNP, the spotlight should look into (them), the spotlight should be focused on the procurement service of the DBM," he said. (VoxPop Philippines)