PNP exec: Contractor violated license delivery deal

MANILA, Philippines - A Philippine National Police official has bared violations allegedly committed by a firm that won a contract to deliver firearms licenses.

Chief Superintendent Raul Petrasanta, head of the Police Regional Office 3 (PRO3), said the most glaring violation of Werfast Documentation Agency was its failure to submit delivery reports to the PNP’s Firearms and Explosive Office (FEO).

Petrasanta was a former FEO chief before his transfer to the PRO3.

In July 2013, Petrasanta said he called the attention of Marion Juan, Werfast operations manager, after the FEO received numerous complaints on the firm’s alleged poor service.

Among the complaints received by the FEO were delays in the delivery of firearms licenses, slow processing of Werfast even in the “off-peak” season, the company does not issue an official receipt, and its website is “useless” as vital information on the licensees’ application status cannot be accessed.

Petrasanta also pointed out that Werfast uses LBC as its courier when it should be the one delivering gun licenses. Werfast’s delivery charge is P190 in Metro Manila while the LBC charges P90.

 â€œThere are instances that LBC would directly call the client to pick up their license at the designated LBC branches,” Petrasanta said, adding that the firm should be investigated on how much it earned from gun license applicants.

Securities and Exchange Commission records show that company registration and monitoring department director Benito Cataran granted Werfast’s certificate of incorporation only on Aug. 10, 2011, but the firm  entered into a memorandum of agreement with the FEO on May 25, 2011.

Director Napoleon Estilles, then FEO chief and now head of the PNP’s Directorate for Plans, signed the agreement for the PNP while Enrique Valerio signed as Werfast’s general manager. The deal is good for five years.

The PNP tapped the services of Werfast after the FEO discovered that a big number of licensees had fictitious addresses and that tapping a courier services firm “would offer the best alternative solution to the problem” through the personal delivery of licenses to the applicants.