Warship project a done deal – Palace

BY CATHERINE S. VALENTE

Alejano, in a privilege speech on Monday evening, asked if the contractor, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), had a backer in Malacañang who allowed the South Korean company to force its preferred combat management system on the Philippine Navy.

He said the Navy had preferred the Tacticos system made by Thales Nederland, which is used by 23 navies around the world and is compatible with the combat management system of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

contract for the construction of the ships was won by HHI before Duterte came in.

Duterte said his special aide had nothing to do with the project.

“He is not a military man and he interferes [ with] what? You think you can convince (Defense the guys there, you can bribe them they will allow us to bribe them

(Go) is a billionaire. Go to Davao and ask who he is. This kind (of article), it seems to appear that Money? The things that you are telling here never happened,” he added.

On Wednesday, Go said he was willing to resign if the allegations against him could be proven true.

“My name has been unfairly dragged in this issue. I am not privy to the frigate transaction. I have never seen the controversial document (white paper) that is alleged to have come from me, much less, handed the same to SND ( Delfin) Lorenzana,” Go told reporters.

Not once

- cado broke his silence on Wednesday to say that Go did not intervene in the project.

“In the many occasions that we were together, there was never an instance, not once, that he asked me about the frigate deal, never,” Mercado said.

Mercado was relieved from his post as Navy chief on December 19 after an unceremonious change of command at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

The Department of National Defense also came to the defense of Go.

“The Secretary of National De- - vention or interference by Sec. Bong Go happened [ over the frigate deal]. The document that the SND alluded to have been given to him by Sec. Bong Go was handed to him at the Palace, so he assumed that it came from Sec. Go, the Special Assistant to the President and Chief of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS),” DND spokesman Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.

“There was neither hint nor guidance from the Palace or from Sec. - mentation of the project. There is a contract for the FAP (frigate acquisition project) which was crafted mainly by the Philippine Navy and it will be implemented strictly to the letter,” Andolong added.