DND seeks to double spending to boost West PHL Sea defense posture

The Department of National Defense on Friday revealed that among the actions it was taking to address security issues in the West Philippine Sea was asking Congress to finance the Philippine military's modernization program.

Speaking before the Makati Chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Defense Undersecretary Cardozo M. Luna said that they were lobbying Congress to nearly double defense spending to two percent of gross domestic product.

"In the ASEAN region, the Philippines is second to the lowest among the ten member-states, spending only between 1.1 percent and 1.3 percent of its gross domestic product on defense," explained Luna.

"We need such an increase to have a sustained multi-year funding for the upgrading and modernization of land, air (drones), sea (surface and undersea), space and cyber capabilities (satellites and radars) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines."

Presently, a large portion of the defense budget goes to salaries of soldiers and civilian employees, as well as pensions for war veterans, retirees and dependents.

Another big chunk goes to disaster risk reduction and management.

"We hope that Congress finds wisdom in investing more resources for [the defense establishment's] modernization efforts... towards developing the country’s credible defense posture," added Luna.

Air patrols

But despite the limited resources available to it, the AFP was enhancing its surveillance efforts with regular maritime and aerial patrols, not only in the disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea, but also over the Philippine Rise and the rest of the country's maritime domains.

"These surveillance and enforcement operations will arm the Government of the Philippines in lodging diplomatic actions on every Chinese incursion and unlawful action in our maritime domain," explained Luna.

The Defense Undersecretary also thought it noteworthy that the AFP had deployed ground troops to secure the country’s interests in the Kalayaan Island Group.

Facilities in the Kalayaan municipality, including the airstrip and berthing spaces for Filipino fishermen were also being repaired and improved.

New power, water, and communication facilities were also being installed in the area.

"Repair and rehabilitation efforts in the Philippine-occupied features in the West Philippine Sea are concrete acts to assert our rights over the area," said Luna.

"It is also worth noting that the aforementioned improvements will not only enhance our maritime patrol in the WPS, but more importantly, it will greatly aid Filipino fishermen and residents in the area, especially in their livelihood." — DVM, GMA News