Raffy Tulfo questions PPA's P168-million purchase of body-worn cameras

Senator Raffy Tulfo on Thursday questioned the 2020 purchase by the Philippine Ports Authority of 191 body-worn cameras for P168 million, or approximately P879,000 each.

During the Senate Committee on Finance's deliberations on the proposed P197 billion budget of the Department of Transportation and its attached agencies for 2026, Tulfo described the contract as "immoral and scandalous."

“Sir, ang pinaguusapan dito sobrang overpricing. Immoral na ito, eskandaloso na masyado ‘to. Ito oh—191 units, ang kontrata sa Boston Homes for the amount of P168 million. I-divide mo ‘yang P168 million sa 191, magkano ‘yan,” the senator asked PPA General Manager Jay Santiago. 

(Sir, what we are talking about here is overpricing. This is immoral; it is too scandalous. Look, you purchased 191 units, the contract was with Boston Homes, for the amount of P168 million. If you divide P168 million by 191, how much is that?) 

Santiago, in response, admitted that the P879,000 cost for each body-worn camera is quite expensive. He said that the equipment was integrated into their surveillance system.

“‘Yun pong 191 units po, Your Honor, ‘yun po ‘yung actual na camera, pero hindi lamang po kasi po ‘yun camera. Meron po kasi itong sistema, meron po ‘tong servers na kasama," Santiago said.

"Hindi lamang po ‘yung ordinaryong camera po na ano. So ang binabayaran po natin dito, kasama po ‘yung camera, ito kasing over internet,” he added.

(Those 191 units are the actual cameras, but what we paid for was not only for the cameras themselves. It has a system, and it has servers included. These are not just ordinary cameras.) 

Tulfo said Boston Home Inc., the company that sold the body-worn cameras to the PPA, was previously tagged by the Commission on Audit (COA) for allegedly selling “defective” equipment to the Environmental Management Bureau. 

Santiago, however, maintained that all the PPA’s projects underwent the regular process, in compliance with Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act. 

“Ito pong procurement po na ‘to dumaan po ito sa regular pong proseso ng under RA 9184. At katulad po ng iba pong procurement po ng PPA, whether infrastructure or goods po or equipment, hindi po tayo nagbabayad ng advance payment,” Santiago said. 

(This procurement went through the regular process under RA 9184. And like any other PPA procurements, whether infrastructure or goods, or equipment, we do not pay an advance payment.) 

Tulfo then asked DOTr acting chief Giovanni Lopez to investigate the anomaly, stressing that “heads must roll.”

PPA explains purchase

In a statement, Santiago said the unit cost of the body cameras "cannot be computed by dividing the contract price by the mere number of cameras alone."

"This includes nationwide connectivity, backend servers, software, training, and system integration," Santiago said.

The PPA said that the contract cost covered the entire surveillance and evidence-management ecosystem for deployment across 22 Port Management Offices (PMOs) nationwide, "and not just camera units."

The agency said the approved Terms of Reference (TOR) of the deal indicated that the project scope includes:

• 164 body-worn cameras with live streaming, evidence-management, and facial-recognition capabilities
• Encrypted software licenses for live streaming and evidence storage
• Docking and charging stations, RFID systems, and 4 TB data servers
• Dedicated 50 Mbps fiber line, satellite communications, and a 24-month satellite subscription
• Installation, nationwide training, and three-year after-sales support

The PPA said that the project is a complete digital surveillance infrastructure, not a simple camera purchase.

As regards the contractor, the PPA said Boston Home, Inc. was declared the Single Calculated and Responsive Bidder with a bid of ?168,680,000, which is below the Approved Budget for the Contract of P170 million.

It said Boston Home, Inc., fully satisfied all eligibility requirements during post-qualification.

"Furthermore, Boston Home, Inc. successfully previously completed a P217-million similar project for the Philippine Coast Guard, which serves as its Single Largest Completed Contract (SLCC), a key eligibility requirement under the procurement law," the PPA said. –NB, GMA Integrated News