Defense Secretary Delfin T. Lorenzana said yesterday that loss of trust and confidence prompted him to relieve Vice Admiral Ronald Joseph Mercado as Navy Flag-Officer-in- Command.
In a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, Lorenzana said he specifically questioned Mercado’s reported fixation with one specific company for the combat management system of the frigate acquisition project of the Navy.
A senior military official who refused to be identified said Mercado’s relief stemmed from the P18-billion frigate program entered into by the government with Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea.
“Yes, the reason behind was as the Secretary of Defense, I have lost trust and confidence in his integrity and leadership. I questioned his intention behind his fixation with one specific company for the combat management system of the frigate acquisition project of the Navy,” Lorenzana said.
“Vice Admiral Mercado wants to bring in another company, another system that is not included in the contract,” he added.
Lorenzana said he issued several directives which Mercado reportedly disregarded and is tantamount to insubordination.
“My directives keeps on returning. I issued directives, two directives, more than two directives which he disregarded and continued to insist on his system so to me that is tantamount to insubordination,” Lorenzana said. (Francis T. Wakefield)
