Senator Lacson wants chopper deal probed

For his first exposé under the Aquino administration, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has picked something close to his heart.

Lacson has filed a resolution asking the Senate blue ribbon committee to investigate the purchase of three choppers worth P105 million by the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The Light Police Operational Helicopters were bought from the Manila Aerospace Products Trading Corp. (Maptra) in 2009 and were to be used by the PNP elite unit, Special Action Force.

But it appeared that two of the choppers were not brand new as was supposedly made to appear in the purchase agreement, according to the senator.

The two R44 Raven I choppers were in fact “pre-owned” based on the flight logs, which registered data as early as March 2004, he said in a statement.

In Senate Resolution No. 518, which Lacson filed together with Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, the senators also noted that the PNP negotiation committee had awarded the contract to Maptra even if the company got its certificate of incorporation only in 2009.