New AFP anomaly exposed
Another case concerning widespread corruption within the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has been exposed. This time, the scandal involves the supply of 97,257 pairs of combat boots for the Philippine Army.
The anomaly came to light when Jodaar Cottage Industries complained on May 31 that instead of being award the contract (being the lowest bidder at P993.50 a pair), the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PSDBM) awarded it to the highest bidder Filboot Manufacturing Corp. (P1,047 a pair). The AFP thus spent P101.8 million on the boots while it would have spent P5,203,249.50 less had the contract been awarded to Jodaar.
PSDBM Inter-Agency Bids and Awards Committee chair Eduardo Opida claimed that the contract was awarded to Filboot because its combat boots were more durable than Jodaar's. But Jodaar questioned the testing procedure used on the combat boots since no company representative was present at the time it was conducted. It was also held only after the company with the lowest bid had already been determined.
Irregularities in supply contracts for military equipment were among the complaints of soldiers who launched the Oakwood mutiny in July 2003. Compelled to order new military equipment, Malaca�ang directed the PSDBM to oversee the bidding process instead of the DND or the AFP so the latter two could avoid finding themselves in hot water again.
The decisive role of senior AFP officers in awarding contracts for the supply of military equipment was nonetheless confirmed when its chief Gen. Narciso Abaya said that the reason Filboot was chosen was because the company was a "traditional supplier" of the military's needs. Filboot has been a longtime supplier of the high-priced but low-quality combat boots that soldiers have long complained about. Jodaar pointed out that, in fact, the PSDBM and the AFP Research and Development Center are in cahoots.
It has also been revealed that Filboot is part of a cartel of companies that supply equipment not only to the AFP but also to the police. It now appears that biddings are only for show because even before the companies were awarded contracts, officials in the AFP and PNP high command had already entered into deals and arrangements with this cartel. Corrupt senior officers of the military and police rake in huge amounts of money at the expense of junior officers and the rank and file.
Nature Care Industries Philippines also bared a similar experience in biddings for the supply of ammunition to the AFP. Nature Care filed two cases against AFP officers in relation to anomalous transactions in supplying P66 million worth of 105-mm artillery shells and P40 million worth of rocket-propelled grenades. Nature Care said that they offered products superior to the others, but at the lowest price, but that their offer was rejected because the senior officers would earn nothing from it. Instead, the contract was awarded to another firm with defective products and a higher price. There are many other similar cases of irregularities in the system of awarding supply contracts for the AFP.
To cover up the irregularities, Malaca�ang spread the notion that the expos� of Jodaar's complaint could be part of destabilization plans against the government. Carolina Hernandez, Presidential Adviser on the Feliciano Commission Recommendations which conducted a study of the issues surrounding the soldiers' mutiny at Oakwood Hotel, warned that those disclosing the scandal may only be testing the waters to see if the soldiers would respond to it and trigger a new uprising involving the AFP.
For additional information on the anomalies within the government's mercenary armed forces, refer to the article �Grave corruption in the AFP� in the August 21, 2003 issue of Ang Bayan.
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