Senator Grace Poe filed a resolution Friday urging the Senate to investigate the alleged irregularities in the purchase of P1.9 billion worth of patrol vehicles by the Philippine National Police, which vowed full cooperation.
Poe filed Senate Resolution 777, only days after declaring her intent to have the 2015 purchase of Mahindra Enforcer and Mahindra Scorpion vehicles investigated.
The Commission on Audit report had validated concerns raised by Poe in 2014 about the terms of reference for the purchase of the vehicles eliminating bidders other than Mahindra, which she said was not qualified to bid in the first place due to its lack of service centers.
“All forms of government misfeasance, malfeasance, and nonfeasance, especially with regard to government funds, must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Poe’s resolution stated.
In the resolution, Poe said Republic Act 6975, also known as the Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990, mandated the PNP to buy equipment that would sufficiently protect the public.
But CoA said the purchase of the vehicles supposedly “compromised security, crippled the police, and left citizens vulnerable.”
CoA raised these concerns:
a.) The purchase of the vehicles was done “without the benefit of operational needs assessment”;
b.) The purchase was also marked by numerous “unsound changes in Napolcom minimum standard specifications restricting in effect wider latitude in selecting the most suitable mobility assets”;
c.) The actual performance of the initial 1,656 Mahindra vehicles was not evaluated;
d.) 206 units were not effectively utilized due to “frequent breakdowns, poor after sales services, and limited availability of spare parts”;
e.) The PNP incurred additional costs of P59.379 million in the form of service fees which “…could have been otherwise used to acquire approximately 67 units of patrol jeeps.”
