MANILA, Philippines — Defense contractors have always played a
critical role in the development of the armed forces of first world
nations particularly the United States and Western European countries.
These defense contractors would provide practically all of the hardware
and software needed by the military such as small arms, missiles, tanks,
submarines, warships, jet fighters and anything else needed by a major
military power.
Governments in more advanced countries partner with their defense
contractors throughout the whole project from inception and prototyping
all the way to delivery and maintenance. Instead of bidding out for a
specific item, the bids are project based thereby developing a local
defense industry in the process. Once these defense contractors are
established, these companies can also develop commercial applications
for their products and establish an export market as well. Of course,
during times of emergency, it would also be much easier for these
defense contractors to increase production or even develop other
products.
Our country should rethink about how we procure the needed armaments
for our military, which is essentially done through a long drawn bidding
process. President Aquino even commented that our current procurement
law assumes that everyone in government is a crook. Our procurement laws
are very restrictive in the sense that it does not allow for a long
term relationship and does not take into consideration other important
aspects such as national security.
Given the recent developments concerning claims involving our
sovereign territory, it has become painfully clear that our military
capability is inadequate to appropriately protect our national interest.
Considering also that we have constitutional limitations on our
military spending, our government, even if it so desires, will not be
able to make substantial investments in production facilities to
manufacture our own armaments. It is also not in our best interest to be
heavily reliant on the grants and sourcing of needed military equipment
from foreign nations even if they are considered our allies.
Where does this leave us then? We have no choice but develop our own
defense industry by reviving the Self-Reliant Defense Program (SRDP)
which was has its roots under Presidential Decree No. 415 dated March
19, 1974, which authorizes the Secretary of National Defense to enter
into Defense Contracts to implement projects under the SRDP. It is
interesting to note that our military capability in 1974 in relation to
our neighbors was better than it is 38 years later.
As stated in PD No. 415, the objective is for us to “achieve a
self-reliant defense posture”, which would require the immediate pursuit
of “national defense projects for the acquisition of military
material”. It further stated that the implementation of these SRDP
projects “will generate labor, spur industrial and commercial activities
and conserve foreign exchange resources”.
The SRDP allowed the Secretary of National Defense to “enter into
contracts under such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon, with
any natural or juridical person, with or without public bidding, for the
manufacture or procurement of supplies, equipment or components
thereof…needed for national defense and covered by the Self-Reliant
Defense Program approved by the President of the Philippines…” In
addition defense contractors under the SRDP were provided certain
incentives and loan facilities were made available for SRDP projects. To
top it off, “the amount of at least One hundred million pesos is hereby
appropriated yearly under the SRDP Program budget of the AFP, to carry
out the provisions and purposes of this Decree.”
Keep in mind that this was back in 1974 and what have we done for our
defense industry since then? Unfortunately, we have neglected our local
defense contractors and have based our acquisition program on our
procurement law which is primarily based on giving the award to the
lowest bidder and does not develop local industries including the
defense industry. In a way, we are paying for all of this now.
Hopefully, our current predicament is an eye opener and generate the
clamor for our government to act on the full revival of our SRDP.
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George S. Chua | Manila Bulleting | May 23, 2012 | Article Link
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