The family of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had used two helicopters “several times” before these were sold as brand new to the Philippine National Police (PNP) in 2009, the supplier of the helicopters is said to have told the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Flight logs indicated that the former First Family were frequent passengers of the Robinson R44 Raven I helicopters, and had used them more than a dozen times on personal trips, according to a source high up in the DILG who is privy to the investigation into the now controversial purchase.
This tended to support an earlier allegation by Senator Panfilo Lacson that the Arroyo family may have been the previous owners of the second-hand choppers, according to the source who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the case.
But the source did not discount the possibility of someone else having been the owner of the choppers, “though what a coincidence that would be,” he said.
“It was clear that the choppers were at the Arroyos’ beck and call,” the source said.
Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo earlier launched an investigation into the PNP’s P105–million purchase of three choppers, two of which were found to be second-hand, having logged more than 500 flight hours.
The DILG expects to get copies of the flight logs and corresponding passenger manifestos covering the two choppers on Monday.
The two helicopters, along with a third unit, a brand new Robinson R44 Raven II, were bought from Manila Aerospace Trading (Maptra), which earlier said it had acted only as an agent for the authorized dealer of Robinson helicopters, Lionair.
Maptra said questions about the condition of the choppers should be answered by Lionair.
But a Lionair executive refused to accept blame, saying the company had only supplied the two pre-owned and one brand new unit to Maptra, but it was Maptra that had negotiated with the PNP.
In May 2009, the PNP, then headed by Director General Jesus Versoza, negotiated with Maptra for the purchase of three equipped light police operational helicopters (LPOHs), later modified to only one equipped and two standard LPOHs.
The contract was approved two months later.
After it was shown that the helicopters were second-hand, the PNP denied it had known about the condition of the choppers and demanded that the supplier replace them with brand new units.