‘Lockheed contract under review’

A clean bill of health.

Malacañang virtually cleared yesterday American aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. of allegedly squatting on government land, saying the company has special arrangements with the Philippine Air Force (PAF) to use an area within the former Clark US air force base in Pampanga.

However, Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said President Arroyo still instructed the PAF to answer point by point the issues raised by the Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) when it reported the alleged squatting yesterday.

The PCIJ, in a two-part series, said the world’s largest defense contractor has been squatting for months on a four-hectare portion of the PAF facility at Clark Field.

It quoted Lockheed as saying that its Aircraft Service Center "is in the process of advance implementation," adding that the deal was supposedly a counter-trade for its sale to the PAF of four aging C-130-K military cargo planes and two sensor equipment for $41 million (P2.1 billion).

The deal was allegedly being worked out by Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes who, according to PCIJ, has signed a contract with Lockheed for the purchase of the four aircraft without any public bidding.

Tiglao said the President has instructed the PAF to shed light on the issue.

"The President has asked the PAF to clarify it and answer the article point by point because the land is within its jurisdiction," he said.

The presidential spokesman clarified that the PCIJ report "linked two different operations" of Lockheed in the country to one contract that is still being perfected.

"As I said they (Lockheed) have a separate project to service the Air Force which has a presence there (in Clark). Whether the C-130 contract is approved or not is a separate thing altogether. It doesn’t mean that their being in Clark means the contract will be passed," he explained.

According to Tiglao, the C-130 contract passed the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) which approves all contracts worth over P50 million. "It is still under review by the NEDA," he said.

The President avoided questions on the alleged counter-trade deal with Lockheed when she led the celebration of the PAF’s 54th anniversary at the Villamor Airbase.

She announced that a newly refurbished C-130 plane and five reconditioned Huey helicopters will be given to the PAF by the US government as a "grant," making no mention of the Lockheed issue.