SENATE BLUE RIBBON TO PROBE CHOPPER CRASHES

THE Senate committee on accountabil -

- saster rescue operation training.

- injured soldiers.

- and soldiers.

The helicopters were purchased by the DND, then under Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, in December 2013 from Rice Aircraft Services Inc. (RASI) and Eagle Copters, Ltd.

TheManilaTimes published a series of exclusive stories about the deal based on the revelations of a whistleblower.

The previous congress investigated the chopper deal amid allegations of irregularity and corruption. A whistleblower, Rhodora Alvarez, who claimed that the contract was “supplier favored bidder.

The writer of the stories, Joel Sy-Egco, is now an undersecretary and is the executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security.

The DND denied Alvarez’s claim that the helicopter deal was anomalous. But at the height of the Senate investigation, the contract was terminated on March 25, 2015 with only eight units of the 21 units delivered and accepted by the PAF.

There were reports that despite the termination of the contract and allegations that the helicopters were not airworthy, the DND and AFP accepted the remaining 13 refurbished choppers from RASI.

“There is a need to scrutinize the supply contracts of our air assets, navy and army weapons and equipment, not only to preserve the integrity of the entire AFP Modernization Program but also to preserve the lives of our military men who deserve better than the ancient and antiquated aircraft procured by the past administration,” Ejercito said in his resolution.