PNoy gives OK to buy new presidential car

President Benigno Aquino III has given his go-signal for the purchase of a new presidential vehicle not for his own security but for the foreign dignitaries and investors who will be visiting the country.

 

In an interview with reporters Sunday night in Baguio City, Aquino said they are now in the process of ‘canvassing’ which type of vehicle will be procured.

 

“We’re checking now on what vehicles are available and what are suitable,” Aquino said.

 

“I think they are now canvassing and major emphasis talaga ‘yung marami talagang darating rin sa ating mga visitor who will be bringing substantial investments and if we cannot transport them from point A to point B relative in safety and reliably, palagay ko it reflects on our capacity to ensure that investments are worthwhile here,” he said.

 

Aquino believes the dignity of the country is at stake if the government cannot provide a decent vehicle to foreign dignitaries and investors.   

 

“Responsibilidad ko ‘yun, ‘di ba? Ang tatagal na nilang gustong bumisita sa atin. Interesado sila sa business prospects dito. Interesado silang tulungan tayo sa many different problems that we have. Tapos, as part of the courtesy [na] rin,” he said.

 

He added that foreign dignitaries from the Middle East are expected to visit the country soon and he wanted them to use the new presidential vehicle.

 

“It’s well and good if they are roughly my age or younger. If they’re a little older than me, medyo pasasakayin natin doon sa Cruiser (which is being used now) baka hindi ganoon kadali. Kung madapa-dapa ang ating state visitor, medyo ang hirap ipaliwanag ‘yon,” he said.

 

“I dread the situation wherein we have a state visitor traveling from NAIA going to Malacañang suddenly suffers a mechanical breakdown in Roxas Boulevard and we have to concoct a story of watching the sunset para to transfer him to another car,” he added.

 

At present, Aquino is using his own 2000-model Toyota Land Cruiser Prado as state vehicle.

 

The three-vehicle official presidential fleet in Malacañang consists of two Mercedes Benz W221 S-Class limousines acquired in 1998, and a Mercedes Benz S-Guard automobile bought in 2007.

 

The two 1998-model vehicles are already unreliable because of wear and tear, while the relatively newer one bought in 2007 has been beset with intermittent, computer-related engine failures ever since it was submerged in floodwaters during the onslaught of Tropical Storm Ondoy in 2009.

 

CATS Motors Inc., the dealer of the three vehicles and also in-charge of maintaining the cars, has given up on the 2007-acquired vehicle after repairing it six times since Ondoy’s wrath, and already advised the PSG against deploying it for the President’s use as it could malfunction anytime.

 

The PSG has stopped using the repair-prone 2007 limousine as primary or secondary backup vehicle for President Aquino, from the time it conked out on the road during a presidential trip to Baguio City last year.

 

 Several lawmakers earlier filed House Resolution 2191 calling on the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to earmark fund for the purchase of a bulletproof and bombproof state vehicle. — Amita Legaspi/RSJ, GMA News