The Philippine government has been upgrading the AFP for decades. Why has it taken so long? Why is the AFP still in need of upgrading? It turns out the government cannot afford to pay for the upgrade. That is why Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. has gone hat in hand to he business sector asking for handouts.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1960274/gibo-asks-biz-leaders-help-finance-afp-upgrade |
Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. has sought the help of business leaders in crafting “creative financing solutions” to ease the financial burden on the government in implementing the military’s modernization program.
Speaking before members of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) in Taguig City on Wednesday, Teodoro highlighted the significant resources needed to fund the continuing modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that must be balanced with the government’s mandate to spend for infrastructure, social services, education, and many other priorities.
“We need to find off-budget, nontraditional financing sources for modernization but not [based] on the model of the old BCDA (Bases Conversion and Development Authority), where land was traded for modernization,” he said.
“Therefore, I ask your help for creative financing for us where we can spread out the terms of whatever financial arrangements we can make to limit the size of amortizations that the national government will make to make it more palatable,” he noted.
Teodoro also stressed the importance of the support of the private sector in the quest to develop a self-reliant defense posture “in order to deter—in order to prevent—those that would poach or appropriate the resources that rightly belong to future generations of Filipinos, not only us.”
“We will need your support in the future because this is a continuing struggle for our territorial integrity, sovereignty, and sovereign rights amid significant challenges to try not only to make our EEZ and other areas where we have jurisdiction smaller, to constrict it, but also weaken our resolve to stand up and resist attempts to change the narrative of what international law is and what belongs to the Filipinos,” he told the MAP members.
Off-budget, nontraditional financing sources? Creative financing?
How is any of that legal? The government has a budget that not only must be approved by the President but is audited by the Commission on Audit to ensure funds are being procured and spent properly and within the confines of the law. There is no room for off-budget, nontraditional financing sources or creative financing. The fact that the Philippine government has to hold out its hat out to the private sector is shocking and goes to show this government simply cannot maintain the defense of the nation.
What about all the money and material given to the Philippines every single year by the United States of America? The US Senate is contemplating increasing the amount given to the Philippines from 40 million per year to 500 million per year.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1225972 |
The United States Senate is waiting for a detailed analysis from the US Department of Defense (DOD) on the proposal to increase the annual USD40 million US military aid or Foreign Military Financing (FMF) to the Philippines to at least USD500 million.
Republican Senator William Francis Hagerty of Tennessee and Democrat Senator Tim Caine of Virginia proposed the Philippines Enhanced Resilience Act of 2024 (PERA) last April 10, which seeks to authorize a total of USD2.5 billion in FMF grant assistance to the Philippines for a span of five years, from 2025 to 2029.
In an interview at Fairmont Makati on Friday, US Senator Christopher Coons said he did not sign the bill as a co-sponsor due to “some debate about the absorption capacity of the Philippine military” for them to deploy USD2.5 billion in defense financing.
Coons is a member of the US Senate Foreign Relations and Appropriations Committees.
“I’m waiting to get the analysis of the US Department of Defense on whether we can allocate USD500 million a year. This would lock us into doing that for five years, I’d like to see us do it once and have it be successful,” he told the Philippine News Agency.
“To go from USD40 million to USD500 million in one year would be a significant move. My argument would be, let’s show that we can do that first,” he said.
Coons sees the bill as an important bipartisan indicator that there is support for the “deepening and strengthening” of the US-Philippines military partnership.
“I take it as a good sign, but I'd like to see us prove that we can actually do it. I am waiting to hear the analysis from the US Department of Defense about what the systems are, what's needed, on what timeline, and what can actually be absorbed,” he said.
Through the FMF, the measure aims to support the Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program and allow the Philippines to safeguard its territorial sovereignty; improve maritime domain awareness; counter coercive military activities; and strengthen cooperation on counterterrorism, among others.
As of January 2024, the Philippines is the largest recipient of US grant assistance for defense capabilities in the Pacific region, according to the US Department of Commerce-International Trade Administration.
This increase is not a done deal but the Philippines already receives millions every year to support the AFP's modernization program. Note that Senator Coons says he is waiting for the analysis from the US DoD to learn "what can actually be absorbed." That means how much the Philippines can actually use for modernization without it ending up in the pockets of corrupt politicians and generals. The issue of corruption cannot be overstated.
President Marcos recently approved a P35 billion modernization program.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/05/02/2351946/marcos-jr-approves-military-procurement-wish-list |
Amid continuing maritime aggression by China, President Marcos has approved a $35-billion budget to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), with the Philippine Navy getting the largest chunk to strengthen capabilities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
The budget will be used to finance various acquisitions enumerated in a lengthy “wish list” submitted by the AFP to the President, and will be spread out over 10 years, Philippine Navy spokesman for the WPS Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad said yesterday at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum.
“As to the proportion, I would say that the larger chunk goes to the Navy, and then the Air Force, and then the Army, and then the General Headquarters. Because the thrust now is already external. It says there that there are different capabilities that will allow the Philippine Navy to fight across a broad spectrum of warfare,” he said.
Trinidad explained that broad spectrum warfare refers to air, surface, sub-surface and electronic spectrum.
“So our ships or our capabilities, including those on land, should have the capability to fight in the air, on land, on surface, at sea and sub-surface undersea, and of course in the electronic spectrum,” he said.
“The details of this are with the Department of National Defense and they will determine which will be prioritized, where and how will it be acquired and how it will be developed. Will it be bought? Will it be manufactured locally, so that the local labor force can be utilized and the money will be spent here? So we are thankful that the AFP is fully supported,” he added.
WPS Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad says with this program "the AFP is fully supported." Even more so with the millions in aid given by the US each year to support the modernization program.
So, why exactly is Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. asking for handouts from the business community? Where is the money really going?
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