The Philippine government is trying to recover P1.9 billion in deposit for the purchase of 17 Russian-made helicopters, but was cancelled following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. This was disclosed by Department of National Defense (DND) officer-in-charge Undersecretary Jose Faustino Jr. during a budget hearing of the Senate Committee on Finance.
Faustino said a review committee was working on the termination of the transactions for 16 choppers worth over P12 billion.
“We are now exerting effort to (recover) the amount through diplomatic channels, considering that the project was implemented through a government-to-government procurement,” Faustino said.
“The previous administration deemed that it was no longer feasible to pursue the project given the major sanctions imposed on Russia that affected its financial transactions,” he added.
Senator Ronald Dela Rosa inquired about the government’s efforts to recover the P1.9-billion advance payment made under the Duterte administration.
“It is processing the contract termination under the terms of reference for the project and in consonance with the guidelines of termination of the contract under RA 1984,” Faustino said The Philippine government made the deposit in January before the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Finance approved the proposed P240.29-billion budget of the DND for 2023 and recommended it to the plenary for deliberations.