(UPDATED — 9:23 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines — Amid threats of being shut down, Rappler on Wednesday again raised the ire of President Rodrigo over the media outfit’s report claiming that Christopher “Bong” Go the chief executive’s right-hand man had intervened in a P15.5-billion project to acquire warships for the Philippine Navy.
Irked by the report, Duterte handed a copy of it to Rappler journalist Pia Ranada, who covers Malacañang, and asked her to prove that his camp had allegedly interceded in the project through Go’s alleged endorsement of a frigate supplier, which now stands to be chosen to provide the critical Combat Management System (CMS) to be installed in the warships.
He said he would immediately fire Go if Ranada would be able to prove that his special assistant was indeed guilty as alleged.
“Find a way na magsabi ka ng totoo (na) nag-intervene kami. I’ll give it to you,” the President told Ranada.
“And if you can find, I will ask Bong to resign tomorrow. Work on it tonight. Let me know tomorrow and I will fire him if he did intervene, even for one word,” added Duterte.
Duterte often got irked by Rappler’s reports that were critical of him and his administration.
Rappler’s registration was recently revoked by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last Tuesday, after Rappler came out with its report on Go, Duterte called it a “fake news outlet.”
“For your information, you can stop your suspicious mind from roaming somewhere else. But since you are a fake news outlet then I am not surprised that your articles are also fake,” the President said.
Rappler reported that in January 2017, Go allegedly gave Department of Defense chief Delfin Lorenza a white paper wherein he supposedly expressed preference for South Korean firm Hanwha Thales to provide the CMS.
The white paper that was allegedly handed by Go to Lorenza was reportedly forwarded by the Defense secretary to then Navy chief Vice Admiral Ronald Mercado with a a Post-it note purportedly written by Lorenzana telling Mercado that the document “was given to me by Bong Go.”
Lorenza defends Go
On Wednesday, Lorenzana cleared Go of his alleged intervention, saying that he had received the white paper from the Palace and thus he assumed that it came from Duterte’s right-hand man.
“This document kasi nakalagay that this was given to me by Bong Go. This was, I assumed that it came from him. But it came to me while I was in Malacanang so I assumed,” said Lorenzana.
While the Defense chief acknowledged that the message on Post-it it was his handwriting, he said he “can no longer remember” the paper and that Go did not know that the document was forwarded to him.
“I can no longer remember ang papel na ito. It was my handwriting. I actually written this last Jan. 12, 2017, one year ago na. di rin alam ni bong go na binigay sa akin. Ang conclusion ko rito binigay sa akin sa Malacanang, so I assumed na galing kay Bong Go. Atagal na masyado. Nakalimutan ko na,” said Lorenzana.
Alejano calls for House probe
At the House, Magdalo party-list Representative Gary Alejano said he would ask the lower chamber’s committee on national defense and security to invite Go and other concerned officials to shed light on the multi-billion project.
Alejano filed House Resolution No. 1590 to look into the alleged anomalies in the Philippine Navy Frigate Acquisition Project “to determine if it complies with Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act in order to strengthen and/or amend our procurement laws and processes, encourage our procurement officers to get the best in the market, and ensure that our national interest prevails over personal and business interest.”
In a privilege speech delivered on January 15, Alejano raised questions about Go’s role in the sealing of the P15.5 billion project with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) of South Korea.
“Bakit kailangan pang magpaliwanag kay Sec. Bong Go ang Navy kung bakit Thales Tacticos and pinili nito, dahil ba sa lobby ng Hanwha Systems?,” he said.
“Mas alam ba ni Sec. Bong Go ang technical specifications at needs ng Navy much more than the end users, who conducted thorough research on the frigate? Is this not unethical, inappropriate and illegal?” he said in his speech.
As part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program, the Philippine Navy initiated in 2013 the Frigate Acquisition Project to boost its capability.
Two winners emerged in the financial stage of the bidding: Garden Research Shipbuilders and Engineers of India with an offer of P15,047,704,000; and, Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea with an offer of P15,744,57,584.
Garden Research was disqualified and Hyundai Heavy Industries received the Notice to Proceed on December 13, 2016.
The frigates to be acquired are capable of conducting anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and electronic warfare operations.
According to Alejano in his resolution, HHI committed to deliver the required items within the price specified by the Philippine government.
“After baiting the AFP to award the contract to HHI, the Korean company found means to circumvent the contract to use inferior products or systems that do not comply with the technical requirements of the Philippine Navy in order to reduce their building cost and maximize their profit,” Alejano said.
He said that among the issues of contention between the HHI and the Philippine Navy was the specification for the Combat Management System (CMS), the brain of the ship, to be installed in two frigates.
HHI insisted on using the Naval Shield Integrated Combat Management System of Hanwha Thales, while the Philippine Navy has chosen Tacticos CMS of Thales Netherlands as their preferred CMS.
According to Alejano, basing it on the marginal Post-it note of Lorenzana, the Defense Secretary informed Commodore Robert Empedrad, then Frigate Project Technical Working Group chairman, to “go over” the paper given by Go, and prepare a report to be submitted to the President.
On January 23, 2017, Empedrad wrote a letter addressed to the President, which also furnished Go, explaining why the Philippine Navy preferred Tacticos CMS over Naval Shield.
The controversy over the frigate acquisition would also cost Mercado his post, who was relieved as Navy flag officer in command by Lorenzana in December 2017.
Lorenzana had said that Mercado wanted another company to install the CMS, even if this was not possible as the contract with HHI purportedly stated that it had the right to choose the naval combat system.
Mercado was replaced by Empedrad on December 19 in acting capacity.
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