MANILA, Philippines - The Department of National Defense (DND) is
eyeing second-hand fighter jets and missile-firing gunboats from at
least four friendly states apart from the United States in line with the
country’s ongoing effort to build a credible territorial defense.
According to Peter Paul Galvez, DND spokesman, there are now ongoing
acquisition efforts for these air and sea fighting equipment from
France, Italy, the United Kingdom and South Korea.
“We now have this defense cooperative arrangements with these
countries and through this scheme we will able to acquire fighter jets
and gunboats at a lower price from them,” Galvez said yesterday.
Among the factors being considered by the department in its defense
procurement program are the capability, longevity and cost of
maintenance of these air and naval assets.
Now locked in a standoff with China over Panatag Shoal in Zambales,
the country was earlier reported to be eyeing the procurement of a
squadron of second-hand F-16 fighter planes and gunboats from the US
Coast Guard.
“It’s not necessarily F-16s. We are also looking at jet fighters with
the same capability as that of the F-16s but are cost-efficient and low
in maintenance,” he said.
He added the acquisition program would also cover the Navy, which is
awaiting transfer of the Hamilton-class cutter USS Dallas later this
year.
The defense acquisition program is among 132 projects the department is eyeing to complete before the end of July.
“With the full backing of the President and with the assistance
coming from friendly states, we will be able to achieve... a credible
territorial defense,” Galvez said.
The US-based Center for a New American Security (CNAS) has said that
the Philippines needs up to four squadrons (48) of upgraded Lockheed
Martin F-16 fighter jets, well-armed frigates and corvette-size, fast to
surface combatant vessels and minesweepers and four to six mini
submarines, possibly obtained from Russia, to build a credible defense
force in the face of China’s increasing belligerence in the West
Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
In an article “Defending the Philippines: Military modernization and
the challenges ahead” written by Richard Fisher, CNAS pointed out that
this level of capability would far exceed current Philippine planning
and finances and it would be in Washington’s interest to make it easier
for Manila to acquire US fighters, frigates and other weapons system and
encourage other countries such as Japan and South Korea to help
modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The Philippine Air Force is presently relying on a single trainer jet
converted into a fighter aircraft as well as several units of
Vietnam-vintage OV-10 Bronco bombers, UH-IH and M520 attack helicopters
as well as four newly delivered Sokol helicopters from Poland to guard
the country’s skies.
The Navy, aside from several Peacock-class warships and a couple of
World War II-vintage ships, simply relies on its newly acquired
Hamilton-class cutter from the US, BRP Gregorio del Pilar, to secure
maritime domain.
The country, through the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and absent a
credible territorial defense, could only watch China lording it over
Panatag Shoal, a rich Filipino fishing ground 124 nautical miles from
Zambales province.
Fight our own battles
Meanwhile, a congressman said yesterday that the Philippines should
deal with China on its own in resolving the dispute over Panatag Shoal
and the Spratly Islands.
“We cannot rely on the United States or the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations for help. How then can we expect these nations to help us
out when they have to protect their relations with and business
interests in China? It’s quite pathetic for us to even seek their help,”
Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano said.
“We should stop our practice of begging for help and hiding behind
stronger economies when things get rough for our country. We cannot and
should not always run to others for help. It’s time we fight our battle
on our own,” he said.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Defense Secretary
Voltaire Gazmin recently discussed with their US counterparts the
country’s standoff with China over Panatag Shoal.
American officials, however, said they could not take sides in the
dispute. But they promised help in the strengthening of the Philippine
military.
Albano supported the position of President Aquino that the
territorial conflict with China must be resolved peacefully and through
diplomatic means.
“We must exhaust all peaceful and diplomatic means not because China
is stronger than the Philippines in all aspects. Small country as we
are, we have the obligation and the right to fight for the territory
which has been ours long before China made its claim,” he said.
He said the plan to bring the issue before international forums like the United Nations is the right tack.
“We can win this battle over (Panatag) Shoal even without help from
other countries because the territory is ours. We should make China
accept that fact through peaceful and diplomatic means,” he added.
Anti-China ‘hysteria’ hit
For the National Democratic Front, the US military activities in the
Philippines are as much a form of foreign intervention as the Chinese
incursion in Panatag Shoal.
“Alongside our condemnation of China’s incursion into (Panatag)
Shoal, we must defy continued US troop presence and forward military
deployment because these not only impinge on our sovereign right but,
worse, drag the nation to the brink of an unjust war as well,” Jorge
Madlos, spokesman for the NDF-Mindanao, said.
“We recognize, however, that it has been imbued upon the collective
consciousness of the Chinese people that the West Philippine Sea is part
of China, as much as Filipinos strongly believe that it is part of the
Philippines. Thus, what is at stake here is the very integrity of both
peoples,” he said.
“The answer to this inter-territorial dispute, therefore, is not war,
but rather a diplomatic political solution between two countries in a
third-party international tribunal,” Madlos said.
“It is for this reason that we condemn the military solution foisted
by the US-Aquino regime, the pro-imperialist Akbayan special agents, and
other rabid war mongers within the reactionary state. These war mongers
shamelessly spread an anti-China hysteria that is engineered to drum up
a military solution by upgrading the military capability of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines, and worse, insist on US military
intervention,” he added.
He said prominent Chinese businessmen like Henry Sy and Lucio Tan
have connived with the US to exploit the environment and the Filipino
workers.
“The (Panatag) Shoal standoff is but symptomatic of their corporate
greed, just a scratch to their decades-long plunder and exploitation.
Adding to the tension in the standoff in (Panatag) Shoal, the recently
concluded Balikatan exercises (US-RP joint military exercises), which
was participated in by 4,500 US troops, and military contingents from
seven other countries, sent a serious message to China that US
imperialist power, in collusion with the Philippine reactionary
government, is capable of engaging against those that threaten US
hegemony in Southeast Asia,” Madlos said.
Madlos said the US “hands-off” policy expressed by Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton is part of her country’s “containment and engagement”
approach to dealing with China.
“Historically, US military forces have never been known to defend the
sovereign right of the Filipino people, but only to protect US
imperialist interests in Asia and the Pacific. In fact, US imperialism
owes the Filipino people blood debts for over a century of oppression
and exploitation, and its continued intervention has dragged the country
into bloody wars,” he said.
“Thus, while we denounce Chinese incursion into our territory, the
Filipino people must equally if not more strongly condemn US imperialist
intervention as shown in its direct troop presence in Mindanao and in
other parts of our country, which imperils the Philippines by bringing
it on the verge of a war against China,” he pointed out.
“We must not be dragged into war on account of the West Philippine
Sea dispute and become a helpless war theater for two of the biggest and
most aggressive competing world powers, only to be used as a platform
for their hegemonic conquest,” he said.
“If we recall, during World War II, the then emergent imperialist
Japan attacked the Philippines because the US’s largest armament in Asia
is stationed in the country, and, in turn, the Philippines also became a
launch pad of Japan in occupying Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, and
Thailand. We cannot allow the horrors of this history to repeat itself,”
he added.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
