PNP QUESTIONED OVER AWARD FOR PATROL JEEPS TO MAHINDRA

(updated November 19, 2014)

Coming in the heels of Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Alan Purisima’s corruption scandals is an allegation of graft and favoritism in the bidding of Patrol Jeeps for the PNP.  The brand:  Mahindra.  Also known as Mahindra & Mahindra ltd. (M&M).

I have recently blogged about this deal and I thought it was brilliant!  Why wouldn’t it?   The PNP will soon be running tough, relatively cheap Jeeps from a brand that has been building Jeeps since after World War II. 

  

An early Mahindra

Today, Mahindra continues to make military vehicles for India in road and traffic conditions that are far worse than anything we find on Philippine roads.  I added a disclaimer though:

I expect the Bolero to simply dance through the PNP tests, they having survived worse conditions in India.  Let us just hope that "Daang Matuwid" would carry the day and Mahindra would not need to line the pockets of yet more Directors and Officials, after all, 560 brand new jeeps will go a long way into making the Philippine Police force, a more credible and effective police force.

Again, the Bolero is going to be sold to the Government at P895,000.00.  In other words, that is a great big diesel SUV at the price of a compact sedan.  Not a bad deal.

Note however that we are not yet clear on what vehicle was actually the subject of the bidding.  I will assume that the PNP was testing the Bolero since it seems to fit the bill.  Likewise, Top Gear Philippines also seems to suspect that it is the Bolero:

When we asked a colleague who had recently visited Mahindra's manufacturing facility in India, he said: "They wouldn't confirm the model (for the PNP fleet) yet. But it will most likely be the Bolero, which will be called the Enforcer here. And it has many variants, from cab-only to pickup to SUV, with 4x2 and 4x4 options. But I understand that the PNP has placed an order for 4x2 units only."

I am writing this article to clarify certain issues.  I maintain that the Bolero is the ideal police vehicle for the Philippines.  In this article I will denounce certain government procedures and corruption in general as it is preventing the acquisition of these badly needed vehicles.  I will try to keep this blog updated as more issues crop up. 

Concerns about the vehicle

Looking at discussion boards, it seems that the main concern for the choice of Mahindra jeeps are (not necessarily in order of importance):

1.     Appearance

Mahindra Bolero… They Look Ugly…

            Believe it or not, I have heard someone complain that the Bolero is ugly and therefore, the PNP should not use them.  Indeed I agree as regards to the appearance.  Yes, they look top heavy and inelegant.  In a car chase, who will the citizens root for?  The baddie in the stolen Mercedes or Honda?  Or the incompetent Police in the funny looking truck that looks like it has already crashed?However, there is nothing we can do about its appearance and appearance should take a back seat when practicality and efficiency are the real issue. 

2.     Lack of after sales services

            I have argued that a Mahindra is a simple piece of technology that can be fixed with a brick and a piece of string if the going gets tough.  Therefore, the friendly neighborhood talyer or PNP Quartermaster (if something like that exists) can fix it. 

However, in hindsight, this is a very valid concern.  As with anything government does, there has to be bidding and audits.  It is not enough that the jeep can be fixed at the talyer as the parts for the car have to first be procured somewhere and the maintenance has to be bidded out to a contractor.  

All these government processes and procedures may seem tedious and inefficient, but that is supposed to be how they are supposed to work.

3.     Price

Another valid concern.  A quick search in Google reveals that the Mahindra Bolero is worth between ₹5.9 to ₹7.8 Lac.  This is equivalent to between $9,440 to $12,480 US in today’s exchange rate.  This in turn can be converted to about to between P425,500 to P563,000.  Reports said that the bid price offered by the Mahindra dealer pegged at P895,000.00--close to the budget the government was willing to spend according to the bid specs.  This amount includes (1) A full conversion of the pickup complete with siren lights with speakers; (2) Rear body conversion, full body build with convertible back to back & front facing seats; (3) Cost of maintenance for a year; (4) Logistics, meaning delivery to the end users all over the Philippines; and (5) 3 years TPL & registration etc (NAPOLCOM specs). [source:  Philippine Star] 

This might explain why the auction price for each car is more than three hundred thousand pesos more than the car's price in India.  Is P300,000.00 a fair price for the conversion, addition of gear, import and registration?  I think it is, though an investigation is still in order.

4.     Chinese cars are cheaper

That is true but that does not mean that they would necessarily fit the bid requirements.  If the PNP wanted a single cab or double cab SUV or 4x4 vehicle, the Mahindra would still be a good choice.

Foton Blizzard – MMDA

Photo Courtesy of Top Gear Philippines

Besides, the word Chinese really doesn’t denote mean quality whenever I hear it.  The Chinese also have a conflict of interest here.  They are supposed to be our enemies(?), so their brands should not be chosen for our police force.

5.      Brand track record

A survey conducted on Top Gear Philippines shows that the major concern with people is that Mahindra is an untested brand.  It has no track record in the Philippines and that it is likely to cost longer in the long run.  

There is fear that a Mahindra would not last in PNP service.  I beg to differ.  Mahindra has been making military vehicles for a long time.  The Indians have been using Mahindras for the police.  Jeremy Clarkson in the Top Gear India Special famously encountered the Bombay 5-0.  The screencap below looks like a Bolero, possibly a Scorpio, but it is definitely a Mahindra.  Therefore, they should be ideal cars for our PNP.

Bombay 5-0

      

6.     Irregularities

The most glaring irregularity in the bidding is the allegation of favoritism.  Apparently, there is a requirement that a car brand should have been distributing cars in the Philippines for at least 10 years before it can be considered for service.  Though there is a nuance to this as James Deakin of Philippine Star explains:

It seems that the issue mostly stems around the fact that the brand has not been sold in the local market before and the PNP’s procurement requirements clearly state that they must have been in operation on Philippine roads for ten years.

Fair enough. But it is unclear whether the vehicles are required to have been in operation for a number of years or the distributor. If it is the former, the distributor claims that there are Mahindras still in operation, specifically the jeep, which were built and sold locally through Francisco motors and even used by the AFP.

But some would still argue that the model they have chosen, which is called the Enforcer, hasn’t been operating on Philippine roads for the set amount of years. True. But then again, if that were the case, any new model introduced, even by the more established brands, would also fall under the same fate. Case in point, the Innova, which doesn’t turn 10 till next year.

On the other hand, the Journal Online outlined the bidding process for the vehicles:

The pre-bid conference  at Camp Crame was attended by almost all major Philippine vehicle suppliers, the Journal Group learned. They include JAC Automobile International Philippines, Inc, Ford Global City, Tata Philippines Taj, Columbian Autocar Corporation, United Asia Automotive Group, Inc. representing Foton Philippines, Prado & Sons Industries, Inc., Kolonwel Trading, Diamond Motors Corporation and Toyota Otis Inc.

   

Several officials privy to the PS-DBM-supervised procurement said that Mahindra was the only company that participated in the recent pre-bidding and was declared as the ‘Lowest Calculated Bidder.’

   

Other major car companies in the Philippines did not join the PS-DBM pre-bidding for various reasons. However, most of them is due to their failure to meet the National Police Commission specifications, the Journal Group learned.

   

Representatives of Toyota for one claimed that they could not join the pre-bidding since their torque is only 200 compared to the 240 torque specified by Napolcom.

   

Ford, meanwhile, has a 2.2 liter-engine displacement which is way below the Napolcom-specified 2.4 engine displacement.

   

Isuzu Philippines on the other hand claimed it could not meet the production demand while Mitsubishi did not join the pre-bidding claiming that it cannot meet the requirement to deliver within 150 days and even asked for a 270-days or a nine-month delivery period.

   

“Many are wondering why the big players did not join the PS-DBM-supervised pre-bidding and only Mahindra did. But in truth, the patrol jeeps being offered by the other companies did not meet the requirements and other specifications of the Napolcom,” one official who demanded anonymity since he is not allowed to speak on the matter, said.

The inevitable conclusion from these sets of facts was that the specifications for the vehicle were tailor fit for the Mahindra.  Whether this is good faith or bad faith and whether the specifications were ideal or not remains unclear and will benefit further investigation.  Another area to investigate is the overpricing, since the cars do seem overpriced even calculating importation costs, and this can only lead to the suspicion of someone benefitting from kickbacks.  I will keep this page updated as the issue gets threshed out.

Conclusion

Needless to say I am very disappointed and disillusioned with this turn of events because I was genuinely looking forward to having Mahindras patrol the streets.  I am convinced of their capability and reliability and I think that the PNP’s law enforcement capabilities will be improved. 

But the allegations of graft may change all that.  Nevertheless, dura lex sed lex, and right is right.  If there was indeed graft and corruption here, the one responsible should answer for 



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