Senator Rodante Marcoleta on Tuesday, Nov. 25, disputed the claim of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) that its personnel underwent proper training in Israel in 2023 for the use of two major components of the agency’s ICT Modernization Project, the GSM Active and Passive Monitoring Equipment and the Network Benchmarking Equipment, collectively worth almost P1 billion.

During plenary deliberations, Marcoleta said the NTC’s version of events “borders on dishonesty,” citing messages and information he obtained showing that the agency’s personnel did not receive the required training in Israel because the country’s Ministry of Defense did not grant clearance.

He also questioned why the equipment, which NTC claimed was “operational,” was never used in recent disasters despite its important functions.

Marcoleta recalled that during the NTC’s budget briefing almost a month earlier, he asked about the agency’s ICT Modernization Project, which has two components: the P300-million Network Benchmarking Equipment and the GSM Active and Passive Monitoring Equipment. He said the project was approved from 2021 to 2022.

He raised concerns that IBIS Solutions, the supplier contracted for the Network Benchmarking Equipment, had purchased the same equipment from VersaTest Company for only P24 million at the time. To verify updated prices, Marcoleta said he asked a friend to contact VersaTest. The company reportedly quoted P40 million today, including a drive test vehicle.

“So parang totoo na P24 million lang noong panahon na bilhin ‘yun. Bakit po P390 million?” he asked.

Marcoleta said NTC told him the equipment was operational. But when he asked to test them, officials said they could not do so due to “problems with power supply.” The senator rejected the explanation, saying that power supply could be obtained anytime.

He then stressed the importance of the equipment, explaining that they can be used in counter-terrorism efforts and, critically, during calamities. He cited examples such as restoring communication during typhoons, floods, and earthquakes, including reconnecting victims’ phones through portable GSM stations mounted on vehicles, drones, or backpacks. He said drones can also be used for search and rescue, equipped with thermal sensors, loudspeakers, and mini-GSM repeaters.

Given the recent disasters in Mindanao and Cebu, Marcoleta questioned why these tools were not deployed if they were truly operational.

“Bakit hindi po nagamit ito? Kung operational sila, bakit hindi po natin mapatunayan na operational sila?” he said.

According to him, the three sets of equipment were assigned to NICA, the Presidential Security Group, and the NTC.

Marcoleta said the lack of training appeared to be the reason the equipment could not be used. He noted that NTC had told the Commission on Audit (COA) that personnel underwent training in Israel. But based on the messages he obtained, the supposed training did not take place.

He then read a message dated September 7, 2023, which proves that the training did not happen.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who sponsored the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) budget, confirmed that Israel’s Ministry of Defense initially did not grant clearance. He said coordination with the Philippine Department of Defense was also needed because the equipment had national security components.

Gatchalian said that according to the NTC’s report to him, the training “eventually pushed through” and that personnel went to Tel Aviv from September 3 to 8, 2023. But Marcoleta countered that the messages he obtained indicated no such training occurred.

Gatchalian said the NTC report stated that the delegation attended a lecture in Israel and later received more training in the Philippines.

He also cited a certificate from a Mr. Yaron Windmiller of Pic Six attesting to a completed training, but then acknowledged that he himself might be “misled” by the document, as it used the word “training” even if only a lecture took place.

Marcoleta said certificates were “misleading,” insisting that no training was held in Israel for the specific components purchased under the ICT Modernization Project. He said the NTC should simply admit that only a lecture was conducted.

“Kung hindi po talaga natuloy dahil hindi pumayag ang Ministry of Defense, kahit kailan hindi makapag-undertake ng training sa Israel (If the training really did not push through because the Ministry of Defense did not approve it, then they could never have undertaken the training in Israel at all),” he said.

He warned that if the NTC continued to insist otherwise, he might move to defer or even “zero” the agency’s budget.

Marcoleta added that he could show the NTC messages from its own contacts in Israel, showing that the agency had been “begging” to return but was not allowed to conduct training.

He eventually ended up challenging the NTC to prove that the equipment was indeed operational.