DND acquiring 3 medium-lift planes

From ABS-CBN (Dec 16): DND acquiring 3 medium-lift planes

The Department of National Defense (DND) is acquiring 3 brand new medium-lift planes that can operate in any environment and provide support for territorial defense.

Defense Undersecretary for finance, munitions, installations and materiel Fernando Manalo, who chairs the DND’s Special Bids and Awards Committee 1, announced the opening of the public bidding for the aircraft. The acquisition has an approved budget of P5.3 billion.

He said the aircraft will be used in the conduct of internal security operations, disaster response, and in national development efforts.

He said the acquisition of the aircraft will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures, using the non-discretionary “pass-fail” criterion set under the Implementing Rules and Regulation of the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Bidders should have completed a similar project during the last five years, he said.

Air Force spokesman Miguel Ernesto Okol said the new planes will complement the bigger C-130 transport planes. The Air Force currently has three operational C-130s.

Okol said the Air Force’s medium-lift requirement is currently performed by three Fokker planes that are actually designed for passenger transport.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/12/16/13/dnd-acquiring-3-medium-lift-planes