The Inquirer reported that the Department of National Defense (DND) has cleared Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go of intervening with the Philippine Navy’s P16-billion acquisition of two frigates (“DND clears top Duterte aide of meddling in warship deal,” Inquirer.net, 1/19/17). The statement of the DND is rather ludicrous. Why?
First, the statement said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana erred in assuming that the controversial document favoring South Korea’s Hanwha Thales for the combat management system over Thales Nederlands Inc. came from Go. Yet it stated that the document was handed to Lorenzana in Malacañang. So from who else can it come from then?
“The secretary of national defense is confirming that no intervention or interference by Secretary Bong Go happened,” the statement said. “There was neither hint nor guidance from the Palace or from Secretary Bong Go to influence the implementation of the project.”
Will the DND issue a statement confirming the intervention or meddling of the special assistant to the President? If they do, Lorenzana and others in the DND and Armed Forces of the Philippines will lose their jobs like what happened to Vice Adm. Ronald Mercado.
Lorenzana would not have sacked Mercado last December 2017 if there was no directive from the Commander in Chief himself.
RICK B. RAMOS, rbrpilipinas@gmail.com