The Department of National Defense, recognizing the opportunity to diversify cooperation with South Korea, plans to further enhance its ties with one of the biggest suppliers of military equipment in the Armed Forces Modernization Program.
This followed the courtesy and introductory call of newly appointed South Korea Ambassador to the Philippines, Lee Sang-hwa, to DND Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Aug. 17.
South Korea has supplied the 12 FA-50PH light jet fighters to the Philippine Air Force along with the two brand-new missile frigates for the Philippine Navy and has won the contract and now building two more corvettes and six offshore patrol vessels for the PN.
Teodoro noted the “enduring friendship and cooperation between” Manila and Seoul across various fields and concerns and conveyed his deep appreciation for South Korea’s assistance to the Philippines in addressing issues like internal security, natural calamities, and capacity-building,
This coincided with a statement from Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri that government procurement reforms “should lead to the expedited purchase of defense equipment the country needs to protect its territory, especially from the illegal incursions of China in the West Philippine Sea.”
Zubiri called for the removal of bottlenecks in the government procurement of goods and services and directing it to economic managers who appeared before senators the other day to defend the proposed P5.768 trillion national budget for 2024.
We agree with the Senate chief the acquisition process can still be “stringent but speedy so that recipients will get the right equipment at the right price at the right time.”
Lamenting the state of the country’s Navy and Coast Guard, Zubiri stressed the “need to procure the best and not necessarily the cheapest equipment because in military spending, the cheapest is not the best if it will soon fall apart.”
“There are several allies who would like to give us slightly used, not necessarily brand new, but good equipment so our law must be able to respond to this reality otherwise the acquisition will not push through for lack of legal basis,” he added.
To complement the amendments to the government procurement law, Zubiri also pushed for the passage of Senate Bill 315 or the “Philippine Defense Industry Development Act,” a measure to promote the local production of defense equipment and materiel.
It revitalizes the Self Reliant Defense Posture Program implemented in the 1970s to support the growing military hardware requirements of the AFP.
The measure seeks to strengthen the SRDP Program by incentivizing in-country enterprises to help grow the local defense industry.
“By encouraging the growth of local enterprises supplying defense equipment and hardware to our AFP, we become less reliant on other countries to fill out our defense requirements. It will also generate employment for many Filipinos in the long run,” Zubiri said.