Following the suspension of the more than P12 billion helicopter purchase agreement between the Philippines and Russia, the Department of National Defense (DND) is investigating potential legal avenues to recoup the approximately P2 billion downpayment it made to Russia.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. claimed that the matter is still being investigated by the DND's legal department more than a year after the deal to buy MI-17 heavy-lift helicopters for the Philippine Air Force (PAF) was finalized in November 2021 and the P1.9 billion advance payment was made in January 2022.
“We’re studying our legal options. We have made the down payment and it is a legal issue. Our legal [office] is studying the best option for them,” Teodoro told reporters at a briefing in Camp Aguinaldo on Thursday.
“That is a purely legal question already … on the fulfillment or nonfulfillment of a contract, so we have to study the best legal option as to the way forward,” he added.
Under the Horizon 2 (set from 2018 to 2022) revived Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program, the Philippine government and Russia inked a contract in November 2021 for the procurement of 17 units of Mi-17 helicopters for the PAF at a cost of P12.7 billion.
