From the Transcript of PNoy’s press briefing in Vladivostok re Rico Puno

Portions of the transcript of the wide-ranging press briefing given by President Benigno Aquino III at Far Eastern Federal University on Russkiy Island, Vladivostok, Russia on September 8, 2012 regarding the controversial firearms deal.

 

QUESTION 1: Sir, over the past few days there has been a big controversy involving Undersecretary Rico Puno of DILG, may issue about him allegedly trying to raid or lock down or enter the late Secretary Robredo’s office. Were you aware of this and what do you intend to do about it?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
OK. Yung missing ng hapon, late afternoon si Secretary Robredo, umabot sa atin yung impormasyon.

Sometime in the early evening, tumawag sa atin si Secretary Leila de Lima at pinaalalang may mga confidential folders si Secretary Robredo that needed to be secured. And in fairness to Usec. Puno—there are only two undersecretaries sa DILG e: one handles local government, the other handles all of the, ‘di ba, ‘yung police, fire, jail.

So they are all reported the same office, ’yon bang, I instructed him to seal the office of Secretary Robredo to ensure that ‘yung all of these records will be left intact. And that is the extent of the instructions that I gave to him.

QUESTION 2: On the other hand, medyo lumaki na ‘yung issue, and then there’s some issue about investigation reports lumalabas that Secretary Robredo’s investigating him for this particular arms deal.

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Yung sa arms deal investigating him…

Well, number one, hindi ko pa nakikita itong folders na ito, ano. Si Secretary Robredo kasi hindi ipapakita sa akin kung meron siyang report e, kailangan may—nagkaroon na ng imbestigasyon regardless of the topic, ano. Kumbaga may basehan, naimbestigahan na ng kapiraso, naabot na doon sa lebel niya kung hanggang saan makakaabot. Tapos kung kakailanganin na for instance ng tulong ng DOJ to file the necessary cases or for further instructions from me, doon niya ihaharap sa akin.

Maraming kakulangan ang kapulisan natin sa pistols at sa rifle. Para bang noong pinapakita ‘yung schedule ng kayang suportahan ng budget, it will take multiple years to satisfy. Parang, I remember correctly, ‘yung maalala ko ‘yung first six months o pati ‘yung 2011 ay aabot tayo bahagya ng 50% sa pangangailangan. So ‘yung nangako tayo sa lahat na bibigyan lahat ng pagkakataon at oportunidad.

Pero dito naman sa ating kasundaluhan, kapulisan ay pinangako rin natin na hindi naman kayo kawawang cowboy. Ilang beses kung nasabi sa speech ‘yan. So doon sa pistol, the pistol that eventually got the award retails for between 30 to 40,000 e.

Sorry hindi ko alam ‘yung exact na figure, ano. The last time that the PNP bought pistols they got it for 23,000. Ang problema doon sa ginawang sistema parang nagkaroon ng Solomonic decision, ‘yung sa bidding hinati-hati doon sa limang nanalo. So meron kang limang iba-ibang pistol nabili sa 23, and that was several years ago, ano. Itong bagong deal ‘yung 30,000 plus na baril nakuha natin at 16,000. Tapos mapupuno na nga ’yung pangangailangan ng PNP 100 percent. So maganda ‘yung presyo, maganda ’yung testing procedure, wala akong mapintas.

Question 3: Ito po ‘yung Glock, sir, Glock?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Glock. Yung nanalo na Israeli weapon may mga requirements na hindi—para siya ’yung lowest bidder e pero may requirements na hindi sinatisfy [satisfy] kaya na disqualify.

So umabot nung Glock natapos pati ‘yung—sorry, kung naging technical, parang technical term yata—post evaluation which is ‘yung… Natapos na ‘yung—hindi, ’yung testing before you give the award.

Yung sa rifle hindi ako satisfied, ano. Nag-umpisa kasi ‘yon na napakaraming bidders para at least—I think the last time they told me about it was seven bidders were interested, they [not audible on tape] documents.

Yung actual bidding naging isa. ‘Yung presyo ‘pag nag-search sa internet napababa nila ‘yung… Parang may na-acquire previous to this ‘yung contract na in-execute before we step into office, P150,000. ‘Yung indicative price nila naging P119,000. Tapos parang ito yatang kino-consider nila is now what – 80,000 per unit.

Pero tumingin ako sa internet dahil noong nag-umpisa ito about two years ago, mga 2,000 dollars yung gusto nilang M4 e [a carbine version of the M-16 assault rifle], so roughly tama yung presyo. Pero pag tumingin ka sa internet ngayon, you can get it for as little as 800 plus dollars, e. So 800 times 40 will give you 32, ‘di ba, and 32 and 80 are very far off.

Tapos yung the rifle itself was not what they told me they wanted.

So tinanong ko sila, “Saan napunta lahat nung mga ibang interesado?”

Kasi even two years ago, there was allegedly an offer from a foreign country to set up a factory here to produce the rifle they wanted, and at the time that it was selling for 2,000 dollars, they were offering it for 40,000 pesos dahil dito ipro-produce.

So sabi ko, “Bakit ‘yung may nag-alok sa inyong 40, bakit itong 80 na lang ang natira diyan? Bakit nung hindi nag-meet doon sa gusto niyong model, bakit niyo pinatuloy pa?”

So ito ‘yung subject na… And I think instructed Secretary Robredo to look into it to—para lahat na. Saan ba ’yung competence nung mga miyembro nung [Glock?], saan ba ’yung technical group dito.

Parang I wanted to know exactly why—’yung parang simple question lang doon, “Bakit walang tumingin sa internet at nag-check lang.

Bibili ka ng isang piraso, makukuha mong ganitong presyo e kung bibili kang kung isandaan, kung dalawang daan o limang daan o isang libong piraso, syempre may discount na papasok doon.

So that was something that Secretary Robredo was also checking up on. So basically, hindi ko type ‘yung mga sagot. Parang ’yung mga sagot ay nagbigay ng mga tanong ulit. So pinahinto ko ‘yung buong proseso para doon sa rifle dahil—at sa totoo lang somehow, ano, nakalusot doon sa bureaucracy, may umabot na post-evaluation period after sinabi kong ihinto.

At pinatanong ko nga, “Bakit nagkakaroon ng testing kung ang utos sa inyo ay ihinto.” So lahat ng involve doon ay naka—parang subject to an investigation at medyo floating muna lalo na ‘yung uniformed personnel.

Question 4: Kasama po ba si Usec. Puno doon sa inimbestigahan at involved?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Yung iniimbestigahan muna dito yung proseso, ano, yung–bakit naging iba, bakit nawala yung ibang bidders. Bakit pati yung pito na kumuha ng bid documents biglang umatras, bakit yung presyo hindi kaalinsunod nung… Syempre baka hindi mo na makuha yung presyo sa internet dahil kailangan nasa America na baka ime-mail sa yo yung baril.

O ‘di dito tatawid ng dagat, may insurance, may duties, may etcetera. Pero hindi naman siguro dodoble.

Pero siguro ang pinakamabigat doon—paano ba sabihin ‘yon? Siguro may in-order kang dalwang sandwich, kunyari hotdog at hamburger. In-order mo hamburger dumating hotdog. Bakit hindi ka nagrereklamo. Tapos ang dami ngang dumating, mula kay habagat, ‘yung nangyari kay Secretary Robredo.

So ito parang pag-assume ni Secretary Roxas at the latest, e formal na ‘yung investigation as to bakit hindi na meet yung objectives nitong project na ito.

So ulit, ano, kung 80,000 ang bawat isa, ‘di ’yung sana dalawa sa 40 mil naging isa na lang. E pinupuno mo ‘yung kakulangan. So ‘yon ang parati kong inulit-ulit sa kanila. Gumawa kayo ng specs niyo, i-test niyo ng tama at magbigay—you get the biggest bang from the buck, and make sure that the deficiencies are met at the soonest possible time.

Question 5: Sir, gaano ka involve po si Usec. Puno doon sa transaction na ‘yon?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Only as far as ano—kailangan kong i-check ano, [not audible on tape]

Pero kasi para bang, number one, he’s knowledgeable.

Yung number two, he’s my eyes and ears.

Number three, hindi ba parang—gusto kong ma-evaluate doon gaano ba ka-diligent siya doon sa pagmi-meet nung mga utos na, ‘di ba, ito ang budget, paano natin mapaparami, paano ba natin mapu-purchase na ‘yan para magamit na [ng] kapulisan na kasalukuyan ay wala noon.

Ulit ha, parang less than 50% to fill the freight. Parang tanda ko, something like ‘pag natapos ‘yung budget na initial, was something like 49%, which meant mga 51%, wala.

Pero ito yung mga sumabak kayo diyan sa – di ba – kung ano man yung violent crimes, sila dapat ang first responder, tapos hindi mo ini-equip ng tama. At siguro follow-up ako nang follow-up through Usec. Puno and Director General Bartolome na what’s taking so long dahil this is one of the first projects na rin e that was identified.

Question 6: So do you still trust Puno?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Syempre may presumption naman of innocence until proven otherwise.

Question 7: So will he stay or will you give a –

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
The person I normally appoint to any Cabinet position is the secretary. Ngayon, the secretary is responsible for everything that happens in their department. So bibigyan ko naman ng kalayaan na makahanap siya ng team niya na yung, ‘di ba, makakatulong niya para siguraduhing ma-achieve ‘yung mga misyon ng departamento nila.

Question 8: Sir, I guess what everyone wants to ask is since Secretary Roxas said that nakahanap na raw kayo ng position for Usec. Puno –

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
That’s possible. Pero yung, I understand ano e, may dikit-dikit ‘yung movement niyan e.

Mababakante yung… Dadalawa na nga yung usec [my note – undersecretary] ng departamento kailangan may ma-appoint.

Hintayin ba natin ma-confirm si Secretary Roxas dahil in session ang Congress, hindi siya pwedeng mag-assume without the confirmation of the CA.

Si General Bartolome, for instance, will retire by March next year. Pag nag-retire siya kasagsagan ng eleksyon so isasabak mo yung kapalit niya – di ba, two months before yung actual day of voting or less than months. Tapos aasahan natin na kaya niyang maniguradong tahimik ang buong eleksyon natin. So magiging halos mission impossible ‘yon.

I actually asked Director General Bartolome also to consider him to – parang to resign earlier. He will be given a different position so as to afford the next Director General time to — ‘di ba, parang to get a firm hold of the forces that are in the PNP to ensure that we have peaceful elections.

Question 9: DILG rin po, sir, si Mr. Bartolome?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
I believe so. He might replace si Usec. Puno.

Question 10: Sir, again?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:

He might replace si Usec. Puno.

Question 11: E kasi sabi niyo kanina sir, ‘yung –

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Hindi yung… We discussed it e, that part we discuss…

Question 12: Si Bartolome clear na ‘yon? So it gives him –

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Teka, wala pa sa akin yung mga resignation letter ha. They will be submitting this, hindi ko tangan.

Question 13: Kasi merong report din po na nag-resign na po si Usec. Puno.

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
But I don’t have it.

Yung, again—teka muna, hindi pwedeng mag-assume si Secretary Roxas.

Secretary Roxas can put in his team. There are only two undersecretaries sa DILG. The secretary cannot assume yet, the two other secretaries will resign, who takes over amongst the five Assecs? Or the Assecs might also say, ‘co-terminus kami e kailangan na rin kaming mag-courtesy resignation.’ So sinong bureau chief ang tatangan ng DILG?

So bago umalis kabilang siguraduhin may replacement that can assume.

Question 14: So ang hinihintay po, sir, is confirmation of Secretary Roxas and the resignation of General Bartolome?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:

Vacancies have to be created tapos yung coming from the resignations tapos, ano, yung they will be designated kung hindi all, some of them will be designated to their positions within this administration.

Question 15: Kung wala ng iba, are you looking at a new position for Usec. Puno?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
That’s possible. Pero, di ba, yung tanungin ko na rin siya kung interested pa siya in another position.

Hindi ba, parang ibang-iba sa mundo niyang pinanggalingan yung kanyang pagiging center of controversy even at times na hindi, ‘di ba.

Kung tutuusin naman e, for instance, doon sa hostage crisis. He was pilloried and I assumed full responsibility for that. I should have – ‘di ba – perhaps not trusted certain people that will give an order implicitly. And we’ve corrected that situation. We actually have a new crisis manual in place.

Question 16 : Sir, matagal na rin po yung pinagsamahan niyo ano ni Usec. Puno. Sa pagkakilala mo sa kanya pwede ba siyang ma-involve doon sa kung meron man na irregularities doon sa Glock?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Yung muntik na pinalusot na—o kung ganoon man ang term ha, kung pinalusot as oppose to nakaligtaan.

Magla-lapse na yata ‘yung funding nito, e, at ipinasa sa procurement service. At ang claim nung iba nakalimutan lang bawiin mula sa procurement service nang inutos ko na ihinto na yung proseso.

Now, how many rifles were there? Hindi ganoon kalaki e. Ano ba ‘yung total na kung saka-sakali, mga few millions. Tapos pakakasira ka na yung few millions na yan uubusin mo rin sa abogado pag kinasuhan ka.

Parang it doesn’t make sense. You look at 16,000 times how many, 60,000 pistols. Medyo bigger pa yon kung magte-10% ka ganoon. Pero this is like a hundred rifles e ‘yung batch na ‘yon. Don’t quote me on the exact number, ano, Pero it’s thousands of rifles.

Question 17: [not audible on tape]

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Hindi ’yung nandoon sa… Kasi dalawa pa yon e. Isa nasa procurement, isa nasa BAC [Bids and Awards Committee] ng Crame. Sabi ko mga 400 or so total. Baka 120 or so yata ‘yung nandoon sa procurement service.

Tapos—medyo mabagal na ‘yung calculator ng utak ko e. Paki-compute na lang. At about 10 % of the total amount at 80,000.

Question 18: I’m sure you’re aware doon sa mga media [not audible on tape] nitong situation na ito.

PRESIDENT AQUINO:

Gil, doon sa pistol noong sinabi nilang may anomaly, sabi lang itong pistol uminit.

Syempre bakit ’di iinit itong pistol, ‘di ba, pulbura; pulbura solid, in-ignite mo ‘yung powder naging gas, ‘yung gas, di ba, may—nasunog e, fast burning kaya siya naging gas, kaya niya [not audible on tape] ’yung bala.

Tapos, yung testing dito para doon sa mga nagmamarunong – noong araw kasing dinaanan kong ganyan noong nasa Kongreso pa ako, testing nila 6,000 rounds, 6,000 bullets. Saan nanggaling yung 6,000 bullets?

Yung tinatawag nating 45 [calibre] yung model of 1911, 1905 actually unang dinesign ’yon, in-adopt 1911. At that time hindi pa advanced yung metallurgy, hindi pa advanced yung heat treating so yung 6,000 was considered abusive.

Ito sa pistols nating kinuha ngayon gagawin na namang 6,000. Sabi ko, bakit yan ang base niyo – 6,000? E advance na ngayon. So ang ginawa nila 20,000. Yung 20,000 in-accelerated pa nila parang 5,000 per session.

So parang kung may lalabas—yon ba yung parang nakakita na rin tayo ng testing ng kotse na accelerated ware, dadaan sa kalye na talagang baku-bako, may tubig, may kung ano-ano. Ganoon ang ginawa diyan.

Ngayon yung detractor, sinabi bakit uminit yung baril e pinutukan mo nga ng 5,000 bullets, e in a relatively short—parang even the course of a day, ano, alangan namang hindi iinit yon.

So sabi nung detractor – pag binili yang baril na yan kailangan may kasamang electric fan para lumamig. Dahil nagmamarunong nga e.

So ulitin ko lang, ano, pumasa, met all of the criteria they put in. It’s a… The standard pistol for over 60% of the law enforcement in America as well as other countries. Ang habol natin dito you have one standard pistol, hindi five standard pistols at five—kasi five standard pistols, five standard training programs.

Tapos yung holsters, yung vouches, yung ganyan—five standards.

So you give them the right tools, they can be expected to do the right job.

Pero balik tayo doon sa rifle, yung, di ba, parang 150,000 [pesos] yung dati bago kami pumasok, naging 119 [thousand pesos]. Nakuha nila 80 [thousand pesos].

So kung medyo nagmamadali ka, “wow nakatipid tayo talaga dito.”

Ngayon, aminin ko na talagang sabi ko, “Ganoon pa kaya ang presyo nito?”

Nag-Google search ako ngayon, at doon ko nga nakitang ang daming below 1,000 dollars, apparently.

So yung mabalik kayo-bakit kako 80,000 pesos ’yung conversion nung 1,000 dollars.

Doon nag-umpisa ‘yon. At bakit itong rifle ito hindi yung sinabi niyong kukunin niyo?

Question 19: Sir, pa-clarify lang doon sa sinabi niyo kanina na kayo ‘yung nag-utos kay Usec. Puno to go to the office of Secretary Robredo.

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Yeah.

Question 20:
So there was nothing sinister in what he did because it’s-parang ganoon ’yung pinapalabas?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Ulit, ano, there are only two undersecretaries in the DILG. Nawawala ‘yung secretary then who do you call, di ba, ‘yung Usecs take over the department. Ngayon ang in change sa police, di ba, fire at jail, si Usec. Puno. Si Panadero sa local government.

So it seemed to me at that time logical to have this person known in the building, who has access to the building, knows the necessary personnel of the place to be the one to seal it.

Ngayon the instructions are– I want to be precise, ano-‘seal’.

So kung whatever the state it was in should be the state—it should be in once you unseal. And it proceeded from ‘yung paalala nga ni Secretary de Lima that there were lot of confidential matters there and files.

Question 21: Sir, maraming nagtatanong kasi nung pagka-appoint niyo po kay Secretary Mar Roxas. Sa inyong palagay po ba ay bayad na po daw ba ’yung utang na loob niyo sa kanya sa pagbigay niya sa pagka-presidente noong 2010 kasi ’yon lagi ’yung pinapalutang ho nila e na parang…

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Alam niyo parang, di ba, meron kang itatalagang kalihim ng isang departamento, inaasahan mo doon competent yung tao na patakbuhin ‘yung departamento niya. Competent siya, hindi… Yung bawas ‘yung trabaho mong binibitbit araw-araw.

Ngayon yung DILG lalo na lahat ng mayor, governor—lahat actually ng politiko kakausapin mo.

Ngayon isama mo na rin yung pulis, isama mo na yung bumbero, isama mo na rin ‘yung BJMP. Sa BJMP alone, ano, medyo malaki-laki ang binanggit na budget ni Secretary Robredo [na] kailangang bunuin para maiayos yung facilities. Talagang literal raw yung iba ay natawag na preso in name lang.

Parang inalog-alog mong konti ‘yung rehas, kalas. Tapos sagutin mo lahat ng makakatakas.

So ulitin ko, ano, nilagay ko siya diyan, [kung] hindi niya magagawa yung trabaho, para akong sira-ulong dinagdagan kung hindi kailangan yung bitbitin ko.

So number one na criteria kaya ba niya? Siya ba angkop diyan sa posisyon na yan. Sa aking paniwala sa mga nakatalagang or sa mga pwede nating italaga diyan ay isa na siya sa pinaka-competent. At, di ba, pulitiko naman siya, makakausap yung pulitiko, yung mga sistema para magkaroon ng systematized changes within how, di ba, ‘yung new deployed fire engines, where at, yung programming for all of these facilities that the BJMP needs. Nasa competency niya yan.

Tapos yon nga, ano, pero nag-heart to heart talk kami. Syempre pinakamahirap na kakausapin e, di ba, ’pag mayor kausap mo sikat na sikat ‘yon sa lugar niya. O ilang mayor ang kakaharapin mo.

Question 21: Heart to heart kayong nag-usap [ni Mar Roxas] so parang, gusto mo ba ito?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Hindi, hindi sa gusto. ‘Pag isipan mo kung tatanggapin mo ito.

Question 22: So tinanong niyo siya. When did [he answer] that, sir? Immediately?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Hindi, hindi immediately ‘yon. Probably not less than five days after.

Question 23: Five days. Ah, pinag-isipan din po niya siya, sir? So hindi siya shellshock?

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Hindi, may point nga na nung medyong tinatanggap niya sinabi niya mga considerations rin niya, ano, na sabi niya masusubukan yung pasensya ko dito talaga. At ang commitment ko sa yo, lahat ng kaya kong pasensya ay ibubuhos ko sa trabaho ko.

Pero binanggit niya, ‘yon ba ‘yung pasensiya na Jesse Robredo.

Question 24: Sir, luminaw kasi yung kwento nung sinabi niyo na si Bartolome po ay ia-appoint niyo rin po. So medyo… Last clarification, sir. Ano hong status nung investigation po ni Secretary Jesse Robredo before he died. Tapos yung mga [garbled] niyo po ba ngayon…

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Investigating regarding what? Ang daming topics e.

Question 25: Doon po yon sa sinasabi niyong sa rifles, sa mga–

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
That was one of the more recent assignments e.

Question 26: So he wasn’t parang may recommendation na may findings na po.

PRESIDENT AQUINO:
Wala pa, wala pa.

I think I ordered him to ensure that the bidding would not commence, that continue—that the…

As configured na would not meet the targets, ‘yung there will be no chance that it will still happen.

Tapos, ano, isa rin siyang umaalalay sa akin dahil tao rin naman ako e, ano. Inutos mo nang huwag ituloy, biglang may lulusot na 100 something na nung tinanong mo, ‘bakit nagpatuloy diyan?’

Kasi pag after nung, yung post evaluation pumasa, obligado i-issue yung contract.

Ulitin ko ha, it’s not for the entire thing; it‘s like a portion of it, a 100-something rifles. And [not audible on tape] slight chance that people might have forgotten… Sa normal na procurement four months e na walang issue. E ito pa… ‘Yung sa pahaba-habang ganoon, pwede talagang nakaligtaan na merong parte na kailangan nang i-obligate yung funds, kung hindi revert to the National Treasury, mga ganoon.