Alejandro del Rosario
Manila Standard Today
Manila Standard Today
News of the sale of three helicopters to the Philippine National Police continues to unravel more sordid details.
Story of the anomalous purchase of the helicopters first broke out when Senator Panfilo Lacson claimed that two of the choppers certified as brand new were actually second hand, very used aircraft. In fact, they were often used by family members of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
There’s a joke about government vehicles as supposedly “for official use only,” with security red plates but are often seen parked outside shopping malls and even in front of disco bars at night.
Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo has learned that the helicopters certified as brand new by a team of PNP inspectors were actually often used by the Arroyo family, particularly then president son Mikey, as a personal air taxi. Aside from Mikey, his father former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, and brother Congressman Iggy Arroyo were also listed in the helicopter’s flight manifest as passengers, including some unidentified female celebrities. According to the helicopter’s log, the flights of fancy were often on weekends to Calatagan and another Batangas beach resort
Who was it who said that “the rich are different from you and me?” Even Mikey represents the “marginalized” sector of society, the security guards under the Ang Galing Pinoy party. Galing talaga !
Robredo said a PNP pilot, Supt. Claudio Gaspar, Jr. of the Special Action Air Force Unit who had flown the Arroyos, has a lot of explaining to do. Gaspar was one of the 16 members of a technical inspection team that certified as “brand new” the helicopters bought by the PNP on 24 September 2009.
Robredo, in a related move, placed on hold Gaspar’s early retirement papers until he has cleared his name in the shady transaction. Former PNP chief Jesus Verzosa’s possible complicity is also being looked at. The DILG said at least 27 other police officers, including members of the bid and awards committee who cleared and certified the choppers as brand new, are on the carpet.
The Arroyos claimed they used to own one of the helicopters but had since sold it to a private party. They did not want to identify the buyer,
Polish helicopter deal canceled
Sometime in 2009, a nine-man delegation from the Armed Forces of the Philippines came to Warsaw to finalize a deal for seven brand new helicopters manufactured by PZL Swidnik, a Polish armaments maker. The AFP delegation was headed by Ernesto D. Boac whose card said he was Assistant Secretary for comptrollership.
The newly opened Philippine Embassy in Warsaw did not know anything about and was never advised of the purchase. Nonetheless the military delegation asked if they could call on the Ambassador and the Polish Honorary Consul to join them in a photo opportunity. We supposed it was to give the deal some semblance of legitimacy because most of the time, Philippine embassies are never informed of PNP or AFP purchases of military equipment from foreign arms manufacturers. Such transactions are always shrouded in secrecy and details of the deal are known only to the top echelons of the police and military establishments.
Andrezey Dyzma, a top official of Swidnik, was so pleased with the sale but later on learned that the contract was reviewed and ultimately canceled for allegedly being overpriced. If the contract had been canceled for being overpriced, one can only surmise that the price was jacked up from the Philippines’ end.
The helicopters were really brand new and Poland has a solid reputation as a weapons manufacturer. In fact all the military hardware, including, tanks, armed personnel carrier and helicopters Poland which brought to Iraq during the war against Saddam Hussein were Polish-made.
A legitimate deal suffered the consequence of overpricing middlemen and some corrupt military officials. The Philippines by now could have had at least seven Polish-made helicopters fully-equipped with machine guns and rocket launchers that can be used to guard our territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Modernize the AFP? The military establishment will first have to rid itself of the likes of Generals Ligot and Garcia.
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