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| PNP rifle purchase scam discovered by NAPOLCOM | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 22 2010, 07:54 AM (814 Views) | |
| horizon | Nov 22 2010, 07:54 AM Post #1 |
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The National Police Commission discovered last week a potential scam in the Philippine National Police bidding for 298 assault rifles. It came in the nick of time; or else the Napolcom, which supervises the PNP, would have been blamed for the mess. For, its imprimatur was used as legal cover. The Napolcom had approved the specifications as far back as 2008: the rifles were to be the 5.56 x 45 mm NATO standard. That is, the basic M16 being manufactured by Colt for the past 50 years, originally the AR-15 by ArmaLite. A maximum price of P43,210,000 was set for the lot (P145,000 apiece). No problem. Several accredited PNP suppliers eagerly awaited the bidding for two years. Last September 2010 the PNP national headquarters bids and awards committee lobbied with the Napolcom to amend the specs. Invoking fairness, it sought removal of the patented “Independent Sear System” that could favor only its manufacturer. Fine. But in the name of standardization, it inserted a new requirement — “equipped with Cyclic Rate Reduction Stability and Accuracy Enhancement Device”. This insertion would favor only one supplier, the maker of the device based in Danao, Cebu. PNP Deputy Director General Perfecto Palad, committee chairman, advertised in October the bidding set for November 15. Suppliers bought bidding documents at P29,000 apiece, only to find out for the first time about the insertion. They decided to back out. The Colt country rep complained to Napolcom chairman Jesse Robredo about undue favor to the Cyclic Rate Reducer maker. The device slows down the M16’s usual cyclic rate of fire of 700-950 rpm; that is, it makes the rifle fire less rounds on automatic setting. The claim is that, with slower firing, the user is able to hit more accurately with a weapon more stable. But most law enforcement units in America purchase M16s that have only single- and semi-auto, with no full-auto feature. That way, cops must undergo stricter marksmanship training, for accuracy and to avoid unintended hits of innocent bystanders in spray fire. At any rate, the Colt rep disputed the bid committee’s aim of equipment standardization. True, the maker was able to sell some Cyclic Rate Reducers to the PNP Special Action Force and certain municipal police departments. Still, Colt as maker of over seven million M16s blames the device for rifle malfunctions that required major repairs. The device is the only bidding item that has no MilSpec (military specification) or ISO classification. Alerted of possible fraud, Robredo, also the Secretary of Interior and Local Governments, directed Palad last week to answer the Colt rep’s complaint. No reply has yet been made. Monday’s bidding was cancelled, though, for lack of participants. But it was unclear if the PNP would resort to negotiated purchase with the one favored supplier. The PNP supposedly is “transforming into a more capable, effective and credible force.” Is it really? The more the PNP changes, the more it remains the same. Danger lurks in future procurements. In the 2011 national budget, the PNP has P1 billion for purchase of M16s and P1.2 billion for handguns. http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?artic...ubCategoryId=64 FERFRANS ulit?
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| zztopy | Nov 22 2010, 03:39 PM Post #2 |
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the AFP also used the same tactic in tweaking the specs to fit a preferred supplier - the HK-416 procurement, remember? |
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| spy shadow | Nov 23 2010, 12:23 AM Post #3 |
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Spoke with the brother of Alan in the US with regards to this rifle order, the bolt specification is a feature that SAF wanted. All FERFRANS did was to research and develop a product that the PNP-SAF wants on their rifle in the year 1999. He also mentioned to me that the rifles are intended to have piston operating system. The problem now is that the other dealers can not comply with these specifications. The PNP-SAF has been asking this for a long time including the issue last year and the competing dealers still did not want to comply and continue to enforce their products and threaten the PNP with complaints of irregularities using the media. If this doesn't work like last year, they will question the PNP's research and development capabilities. The dealers are bullying the PNP. He said that this is the same issue last year so the dealers know already what the SAF wants. He even mentioned other products that the other dealers can use to comply with these sepcifications that I promised to keep confidential. In fact FERFRANS is very thankful to the PNP-SAF because they just submitted this feature to the US ARMY M4 Carbine Modification Program. The US Army wants an improvement on their M4 Carbine which includes a thicker barrel profile and wants all their carbine capable of Full-Auto Fire instead of the 3 round burst. The US ARMY's direction on what improvements they want on their M4 Carbine is already used by the PNP-SAF since the year 2000. The brother also told me that if the PNP wants another feature or added advantage, they will again comply with the PNP's modernization and capability enhancement program becasue they think that these are good inputs for their product development. He gave me an example of the tactical sniper Rifle that is discussed here, have to change the stock 3 times to accomodate what the PNP-SAF wants. That is why there was a TSR I and a TSR II. For every procurment, there are new specifications so they developed a new stock that is modular. In the case the specification changes again, they will use the same base stock. This feature again is being looked up by the law enforcement community in the US. My two cents on this matter: I was prevy to the reports last year and almost all the officers in the PNP has been changed. The President is new and still the PNP-SAF wants the rifle that they designed and used since 1999. I suggest that the POlice Commission ask the troops and the officers of the entire PNP-SAF and the PNP in general what they want instead of bullying them with media. |
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