Lowest bidder in P1.2-B PNP gun deal disqualified

The company that submitted the lowest bid for a P1.2-billion firearms procurement of the Philippine National Police (PNP) has been disqualified for failing to comply with documentary requirements.

The bid, submitted by a joint venture of R. Espineli and the Israel Weapons Industry, the manufacturer of Jericho pistols, was declared ineligible by the technical working group of the PNP’s bids and awards committee after it failed to meet the conditions, said PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Generoso Cerbo Jr.

Cerbo said Espineli (not Espinelli as previously reported) did not comply with the requirements to submit a certificate of bid security from the Insurance Commission and another certificate authenticating the translation of foreign documents from the Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv.

“The BAC (bids and awards committee) resolution is still for signature by the members today (Thursday) but the official letter to the company will also be out today,” Cerbo told a press briefing Thursday.

He said the company that submitted the next lowest bid, a joint venture between Trust Trade and Glock Asia Pacific, would undergo the post-qualification process. If it passes the technical requirements, its pistols will have to undergo a 20,000-round stress test.

Espineli had submitted the lowest bid of P974 million, which would have saved the PNP more than P220 million.

Trust Trade came in second with P998 million, while Kolonwel and its partners were third with P1.06 billion. Arms Corp. of the Philippines was fourth with a bid of P1.197 billion.

Espineli’s price would lower the PNP’s set price of P20,000 for each pistol to just P16,254 apiece, while Trust Trade’s would lower it to P16,659.94, a difference of just slightly above P400.

The procurement, one of the biggest by the PNP in recent years, is for the purchase of almost 60,000 pistols to be used by police officers. It is seen to fill 100 percent of the PNP’s short firearms requirement.