The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) asked Congress Wednesday to craft specialized rules for the purchase of defense equipments to resolve the bottlenecks in the upgrade of its gear stemming from existing government procurement laws.
AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans Brig. Gen. Guillermo A. Molina, Jr. told lawmakers at the initial review of the AFP modernization program that the stringent guidelines of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act have slowed the agency down in procuring additional military equipment in recent years.
Of the 30 planned projects under Republic Act 10349 or the Revised AFP Modernization Act signed in 2012, only two are currently being implemented while 28 are still in the procurement stage, a status report presented by the AFP at the hearing showed.
Half of the projects under the older modernization law, RA 7898 signed 20 years ago, have also yet to be implemented.
"RA 9184 seems not to be fully responsive of the needs of the AFP," added Department of National Defense (DND) Asst. Secretary Patrick Velez.
The slowdown in the upgrade of defense articles and gadgets occur even as P82.48 billion has been allocated for the AFP modernization program.
With suppliers of defense equipment finding the rules set by the procurement law “impossible” to meet, Velez asked Congress to either amend the country’s procurement law to address specific issues on defense purchases.
One of the changes that the AFP proposed is the extension of the 30-day period for bid submissions since it has proven to be realistic. Velez said the procurement of defense equipment usually takes a longer time since it is sourced overseas.
In addition, the preference for lowest calculated bids and local producers should be relaxed since the highly advanced systems available abroad can be tailor-fit to meet specific requirements.
Velez said it might also be better if a separate procurement entity for defense agencies or uniformed personnel services be established since the recent trend in defense procurement remove the responsibility of purchasing equipment from the armed forces.
“[That] would now result to professionalization of defense procurement and correct certain deficiencies,” he said.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/530770/news/nation/afp-asks-congress-to-ease-procurement-guidelines-for-defense-equipment
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