PNP vows cooperation in Senate probe into P1.893-B purchase of patrol jeeps

The Philippine National Police on Tuesday vowed that it will cooperate in a Senate inquiry and any investigation into the purchase of P1.893 billion worth of Mahindra patrol vehicles deemed "disadvantageous" to the police.

“Well definitely the Philippine National Police will fully cooperate in whatever investigation that will be conducted by a competent body, be it the Ombudsman or the Senate,” PNP spokesperson Benigno Durana Jr. said in a press briefing in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

“Taking off from the pronouncement of our President that any agency, whether it's the PNP or whatever agency, has the duty to make sure that the people's money should be spent by that agency for the benefit of the people only,” he added.

Senator Grace Poe said that she will push for an inquiry into the purchase of Mahindra patrol vehicles, adding that as early as 2014, she had already expressed serious concerns about the way the terms of reference for the bidding were crafted.

"[The terms] apparently were tailored-fit for Mahindra, effectively eliminating all the other more known brands with track record and countrywide presence as far as service centers are concerned from competing,” she said in a press statement.

"These COA findings validate my concerns to a large extent. I will push for an inquiry to look into these and determine the culpability of the PNP officials, among others," she added.

The PNP, meanwhile, said the bidding and procurement of the Mahindra Enforcer and Mahindra Scorpio vehicles in 2015 were conducted by the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management.

Durana Jr. said that the PNP only submitted the specification requirements needed for for the purchase.

"We have to emphasize that the procurement of Mahindra, from the bidding process until its procurement was not done by the Bids and Awards Committee by the Philippine National Police but by the procurement service of the Department of Budget and Management," Durana said.

"So it is beyond us, the only thing that we've contributed is to set the specification based on the operational needs assessment that were conducted earlier," he added.

In its report, COA said it interviewed police officers using the vehicles and found out that 57.20 percent or more than half of them were unsatisfied with the overall performance of the Mahindra vehicles.

The most common complaint about the vehicles was their high fuel consumption, which contradicts the specifications set by the National Police Commission for them to be fuel-efficient.

The COA blamed the problem on the PNP's failure to conduct an "operational needs assessment" before buying the vehicles. This, the COA said, "pushed back the full attainment of the objective of the Capability Enhancement Program (CEP) of the PNP."

The COA said the non-evaluation of the actual performance of the initial 1,656 Mahindra vehicles bought before buying additional units resulted in 206 units not being effectively utilized out of the total 2,054 units purchased.

Among the problems encountered with the vehicles were the frequent breakdowns, poor after-sales services, and a limited availability of spare parts that "impacted on its vision of a more capable, effective and credible police force." — BM, GMA News