MANILA, Philippines — The reported procurement of the Philippine National Police (PNP) of “overpriced” speed guns was just a “misunderstanding” and was the result of a hastily-made proposal.
This was the explanation given by PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac on Tuesday after President Rodrigo Duterte railed against the agency for procuring speed guns which cost P950,000 per unit, which he said only costs P10,000 per unit in Davao City.
Banac explained that the item that the PNP had wanted to procure, was a micro-digital camera laser system — which costs about P950,000 each, and not a speed gun.
He added that it was only a proposal made during the command conference with the President in Malacañang last week. No procurement has been made yet as it still has to undergo vetting and bidding.
“Hindi pa final y’ung proposal, nai-present nang maaga at nang mabilisan. Masasabi natin na hilaw pa yung presentation at yun lamang, sa pagmamadali, nailabas ng PNP at nai-present kaagad sa Pangulo at ito ay naging dahilan ng pagkaroon ng misunderstanding,” Banac said in a press conference in Camp Crame.
(The proposal was not final yet but it was presented early and hastily. We can say that the presentation is not fully prepared and because of this, it caused a misunderstanding.)
“Wala pang [overpricing.] ‘Yung nai-present ay masasabi nating plano lang talaga na parang ito lang ‘yung ating mga wishlist at hindi pa ito ‘yung masasabi nating isusumite for approval of the President,” he added.
[There is no overpricing. What we have presented is only a plan or a wishlist. This is not yet for approval of the President.]
He added that the PNP did not expect that their presentation will be approved by the President right away. The PNP has already submitted its explanation to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on the matter.
“Nabigla rin tayo noong agad na inaprubahan ng Pangulo na hindi pa nga handa ‘yung ating procurement plan. Ganunpaman, humihingi tayo ng paumanhin sa ating Pangulo at nagdulot ito ng misunderstanding,” the PNP official said.
[We were surprised that the President approved the proposal when it is not yet completely ready. We apologize to the President for the misunderstanding it caused.]
Because of the alleged “overpriced” procurement, President Duterte has ordered the removal of the procurement power of the police and assigned Año to do the procurement for the PNP.
READ: Duterte removes PNP’s procurement power over ‘overpriced’ speed guns
Banac said the PNP will “respect and abide” by the decision of the President.
“We will endeavor to work this out in accord with our own procurement rules and systems specified by law. We assure the public that we will never allow corruption in the PNP,” he said.