GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
ADAS 2024: Major international security, defense exhibition opens in Pasay
It would have been easy to mistake the event at the World Trade Center in Pasay as a business convention. Serious men in freshly pressed suits and smartly dressed women patiently waited their turn to have their bags scanned in the X-ray machines before spilling into the carpeted lobby leading into the main exhibition hall.
In a way it was a business convention. But the commerce was not the usual tradeable goods or services. You see, this was a defense and security exhibition that dealt with the need for weaponry, deterrence and the million and one ways one could visit death upon your enemies.
The Asian Defense And Security Exhibition is a showcase of the latest and greatest weaponry as well as cutting-edge technology aimed at bolstering a country’s defenses or increasing its capacity to attack its enemies.
The possibility of war and the necessary preparation for it is the gory reality governments have to deal with every day, even during times of peace, but more so when the clouds of conflict hover on the horizon.
Following tradition, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and AFP Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner led the opening of the exhibition, claimed to be one of the biggest of its kind in Asia.
Amid the tensions and damaging maneuvers undertaken by China in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippine government has pushed for the acquisition of more military assets and strengthening its defense relations with stronger allies such as the United States, Japan and Australia.
China has accused the Philippines and the US of heightening tensions and instigating a veritable arms race in the region.
Teodoro says he finds this accusation inaccurate given the military might of China and its missile capabilities in the disputed areas.
“Kung sila nagsasabi na may arms race, sila mas malaki, sila maging halimbawa. Sirain nila nuclear arsenal nila, alisin nila ballistic capability nila, tibagin nila ang Mischief Reef at ibang artificial island, umalis sila sa West Philippine Sea. Eh nagsasabi sila ng arms race eh sila naman nauuna, eh mukhang hiwalay yung dila,” Teodoro said.
(If they say there's an arms race, then they should lead by example as they're bigger. They should dismantle their nuclear arsenal, remove their ballistic capabilities, remove [their base] on Mischief Reef and other artificial islands, and leave the West Philippine Sea. They are the ones claiming there is an arms race but they are the ones who did it first..it seems they have separate tongues.)
China's People Liberation Army, in fact, launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, a move likely to raise international concerns about the country's nuclear build-up.
Part of the deterrence sought by the Philippines against China is a modern missile system, similar to the the US Typhon Medium Range Capability launchers currently deployed in northern Luzon.
China has chafed at these missiles, which are capable of reaching southern China as well as any point in the West Philippine Sea.
Initially part of the Salaknib military exercises last April, the missile system is capable of launching SM9 or Tomahawk cruise missiles with estimated ranges of 500 up to 1,600 kilometers.
The Philippine Army had said it would be pulled out "in September or even earlier," then later said its stay could be extended beyond that time.
Brawner personally believes the missile system should stay where it is.
“Kung ako ang masusunod [If it were up to me], no. If I were given the choice, I would like the Typhon here in the Philippines forever. Kailangan natin sa depensa 'ya [We need it four our defense]," he said.
The AFP chief confirmed that they had already asked their US counterparts to allow the MRC to stay but that there had been no response yet to their request. — BM, GMA Integrated News
