Why PNP is buying sub-machine guns

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine National Police (PNP) is buying 568 sub-machine guns worth P133.798 million.

In an advertisement in The STAR, Director Juanito Vaño, chief of the PNP Directorate for Logistics, said the police is inviting bids for sub-machine guns for an approved budget contract of P133,798,080.

As provided in the invitation to bid, Vaño said the delivery of the machine guns could be done in two tranches of 300 units and 268 within 60 days after the last day of the first delivery.

“The pre-bid conference is on Nov. 7 at the main conference hall of the PNP national headquarters. Bids must be delivered on or before Nov. 21. Bid opening shall be on Nov. 21 at 9:01 a.m.,” said Vaño.

Since 2013, the PNP has been buying equipment as part of its the Capability Enhancement Program (CEP), but police officials later admitted that the funds came the Disbursement Assistance Program (DAP), parts of which the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional.

The PNP is also slated to procure assault rifles or long firearms worth P1,516,125,000 as part of CEP. PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima has signed the orders to proceed with the procurement of the firearms.

The STAR reported that the fund for the assault rifles will be sourced from the CEP 2012 with P501,475,000, CEP 2013 with P130,845,000 and operational transformation plan worth P883,805,000 for a total of P1,516,125,000.

The PNP earlier scrapped an allegedly questionable P391-million procurement of 3,330 assault rifles after President Aquino noticed the deal to be overpriced.

Based on the President’s own Google search, the price of the rifle should have only been at most P40,000 apiece and not P80,000. The original price of the rifle was listed at P150,000 apiece, then it went down to P119,000.

The PNP Supply Management Division and the Directorate for Logistics were instructed to further study the specifications for the assault rifles.

In September 2013, the Directorate for Logistics and vice chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee said the PNP might bid out the combined 1,500 and 1,800 assault rifles with the same budget.

The 1,500 assault rifles, to be procured at a cost of P178,332,000, will be assigned to members of the Special Action Force (SAF), while the 1,800 long firearms, to cost P213,998,400, will be given to members of the Mobile Forces.  © Provided by Cecille Suerte Felipe, The Philippine Star