(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
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.
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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