The Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday assured the public that utmost transparency will be observed in the  procurement of 59,000 units of automatic pistols for the policemen in the field.
PNP chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome said proper procurement rules and procedures will be strictly observed.
The PNP is set to conduct functional tests on sample handguns offered by the second lowest bidder in the program to acquire 59,904 units of automatic pistols.
Police Deputy Director General Emelito Sarmiento, PNP deputy chief for operations and concurrent chairman of the PNP bids and awards committee (BAC), said functional tests on the Glock 17 Generation 4 pistols submitted by the second lowest bidder Trust Trade will begin on Thursday, July 19, at the NCRPO Firing Range in Bicutan, Taguig City.
“The PNP will strictly observe prescribed rules in the actual testing because we want to ensure that the PNP will get only the best equipment for our policemen,” Sarmiento said.
He emphasized that all actions of the BAC are consistent with provisions of the revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act contained in the Handbook on Philippine Government Procurement.
Sarmiento said the BAC-Technical Working Group  (TWG) has chosen at random two sample pistols from 10 submitted samples. The chosen sample units will undergo the 20,000 rounds endurance test administered by the BAC-TWG with observer-representatives from other proponents and pre-qualified bidders, DILG, NGO, media and other interested parties.
To preclude any undue influence of the bidders on the testing procedure, Sarmiento said the “no contact rule” will be strictly observed prohibiting direct interaction among proponents/bidders with members of the BAC, to include its staff and personnel, as well as the secretariat of the TWG.
The functional test will run for seven days from July 19 until July 26.
The PNP program to procure 59,904 handguns out of its P1.19 billion is the largest procurement program of the PNP in recent years.
“Henceforth, we want to set the precedent by making this particular procurement the standard of transparency and public accountability in all future procurement programs of the PNP,” Sarmiento said.