As the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) prepares to acquire new planes for its search and rescue operations and armor vests to protect its soldiers, questions have been raised in the conduct of separate biddings for these items costing billions of pesos.

Defense Undersecretary Fernando Manalo already signed a bid bulletin and the deadline for submission of bids is on November 29 at 10 a.m. with tenders to be opened that day.