PNP logistics chief stripped of bidding post

The logistics director of the Philippine National Police (PNP), along with other officials named in the secondhand helicopters anomaly, has been stripped of his post as chair of the PNP’s powerful bids and awards committee (BAC).

But Director George Piano has retained his position as chief of the Directorate for Logistics, a post that automatically comes with being head of the BAC, said PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr.

Cruz said Piano and the other police officials were removed from the BAC as soon as the Senate began its investigation into the PNP’s purchase of three helicopters in 2009, two of which were later found to be secondhand.

He said PNP Director General Raul M. Bacalzo issued the order as a precautionary measure “so they would not be able to influence” a parallel probe launched by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

Cruz could not immediately say how many police officials were removed from the BAC.

Civilians possibly liable

CIDG Director Samuel Pagdilao Jr. earlier said 27 members of the BAC and the inspection and acceptance committees were being probed over the incident. He said the CIDG would press charges against those found liable, possibly including civilians, next week.

Piano was replaced by the deputy for logistics Chief Superintendent Felipe Rojas, said Cruz.

“They are taking it in stride. They know that it’s part of the organization and we only obey the orders from the chain of command,” Cruz said of the former BAC members.

In 2009 the PNP bought three choppers for P104.9 million. But two of these were found to have logged an average flying time of 500 hours before they were received as brand new by the Special Action Force’s Air Unit.

In the Senate hearing into the controversy, the supplier claimed that the two used helicopters were owned by Jose Miguel Arroyo, husband of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo—a charge he denied.