By Joel M Sy Egco/Manila Times
The Department of National Defence (DND) has scrapped the controversial P1.2-bn UH-1 helicopter project and ordered the blacklisting of the supplier, the joint venture between Rice Aircraft Services Inc and Eagle Copter Ltd of Canada.
Yesterday, Malacanang confirmed that Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin had ordered the termination of the deal, which has been the subject of a series run by Manila Times based on statements made by “Joey,” who will be the government’s principal witness once congressional investigations of the anomalous transaction start.
Gazmin “terminated the contract and issued a blacklisting order against the supplier. We only have accepted seven UH-1 helicopters. We continue to commit to the observance of our procurement laws and defend what is advantageous to the government,” Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said. Coloma was quoting a statement sent to him by the National Defence Public Information
Office.
