DND welcomes Senate plan to probe frigate project

DND Public Affairs Office Chief Arsenio Andolong said the agency “have long been waitng for the opportunity” (Photo: Department of National Defense – Philippines/ Facebook)

MANILA — The Department of National Defense (DND) welcomed the call of the Senate minority bloc to look into the controversial PHP18-billion Frigate Acquisition Project (FAP) of the Philippine Navy.

DND Public Affairs Office Chief Arsenio Andolong said the agency “have long been waiting for the opportunity to shed light on this issue so that the truth will finally be known.”

The FAP is one of the key pieces of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program as it seeks to provide the country with the capability to deal with air, surface and sub-surface threats.

It will be armed with a variety of missiles and guns capable of defeating such threats.

Earlier, Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano claimed that the frigate project is riddled with anomalies and that its design was altered from the original, including the alleged preference for the Hanwha Combat Management System.

“There is a proper process prescribed in RA 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act) concerning the termination of a procurement project and there are specific conditions that must be present in order to invoke it, none of which are existing at the moment in this project,” said Andolong.

Andolong added that the anomalies claimed by Alejano are mere allegations and innuendos which hardly constitute grounds for termination of the project.

The defense department had earlier cleared Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go of any interference in the FAP following reports claiming that the latter interfered in the project.

“The President has already addressed the issue of the alleged ‘intervention’ of the SAP Christopher “Bong” Go in the PN Frigate Acquisition Project,” Andolong, quoting DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, said in a statement.

“The Secretary of National Defense is confirming that no intervention or interference by Secretary Bong Go happened. The document that the SND alluded to have been given to him by Secretary Bong Go was handed to him at the Palace, so he assumed that it came from Secretary Go, the Special Assistant to the President and Chief of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS). It should be noted that the one of the tasks of the PMS includes the official routing and endorsement of documents to government agencies concerned, for appropriate action,” he added.

Andolong said the document originated from Hanwha, one of the proponents for the combat management system (CMS) who were post-qualified by the Philippine Navy for the FAP.

“The SND forwarded it to then Flag-Officer-In-Command of the Philippine Navy (then Vice Admiral Ronald Joseph Mercado) for appropriate action, who, in turn, gave it to then Commodore Robert Empedrad, the Chairperson of the Frigate Project Management Team at the time. Adm. Empedrad wrote a reply to the document stating the preferred CMS of the Philippine Navy, subject to the terms and conditions of the contract,” he added.

The DND spokesperson said there was neither hint nor guidance from the Palace or from Go to influence the implementation of the project.

“There is a contract for the FAP which was crafted mainly by the Philippine Navy and it will be implemented strictly to the letter,” Andolong pointed out.