Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has affirmed her previous decision to fire 14 officers and personnel of the Philippine National Police and to suspend six others after having been involved in the anomalous purchase of helicopters in 2009 from Manila Aerospace Products Trading Corp. (Maptra) Sole Proprietorship.
According to reports, the procurement of these helicopters involved overpriced units previously owned by Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, husband of the former president and currently Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The contract was also finalized even before the post-qualification process was completed.
Morales said in her order that the group was denied of their request for motion of reconsideration due to lack of new material evidence to defend the respondents’ case. The Ombudsman also firmly believes that the transaction could never have happened without the cooperation of these PNP officers and personnel.
The group has also been slapped with a criminal case before the Sandiganbayan.
