Roxas confident procurement of P1.893-B Mahindra patrol vehicles followed proper procedure

Former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II has expressed confidence that the procurement of P1.893 billion worth of Mahindra patrol vehicles followed proper procedure.

In a statement, Roxas said he is still “unaware” of the report released by the Commission on Audit which found out that the purchase of P1.893 billion worth of patrol vehicles from Mahindra Enforcer and Mahindra Scorpio in 2015 became "disadvantageous" for the PNP due to various problems that plagued the vehicles.

“I am unaware of this COA report. During my stint at DILG, I supported the PNP's (Philippine National Police) police patrol jeep project because it was sorely lacking in transport and mobility capability,” he said.

Roxas said he could not comment on the “actual procurement” as it was conducted by the PNP and the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).

“As to the actual procurement, I can't comment much as it was conducted by the PNP and by the Procurement Service of DBM, but I am confident that the PNP and the PS-DBM followed proper procedure as that was the policy,” he said.

“I continue to support providing the PNP with their equipment needs so they can perform the various tasks required of them,” he added.

On Tuesday, PNP spokesperson Senior Superintendent Benigno Durana Jr. said the PNP was just a receiver of the patrol vehicles, adding that the procurement was done by the PS-DBM and not by the PNP.

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 at a press briefing.

“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, a 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.” — RSJ, GMA News