Navy modernization on track, says admiral

The Philippine Navy on Friday said that the "Re-Horizon 3" or the third phase of the Armed Forces of the Philippines' (AFP) Modernization Program is on course for its naval warfare branch.

"I would say that we are on track with our targets," Philippine Navy spokesperson for West Philippines Sea (WPS) Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said in an interview.

Trinidad said the $35 billion or more than P2 trillion budget for the Re-Horizon 3 will not be a "one-shot" deal, but a continuous effort for the enhancement of the capability of the Armed Forces.

"Kung kinakailangan pa na i-improve ito (If more improvements are needed), more will be added," he said.

The Philippine Navy earlier in the week said two more corvette warships and six offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) are in the pipeline for acquisition under the military's modernization program.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. at the start of the year approved revisions for Horizon 3 of the AFP modernization program, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. announced.

These range from domain awareness, connectivity, intelligence capabilities of C4ISTAR communication, command and control, and deterrence capabilities in maritime and aerial domains.

Commenting anew on China's latest aggression in the West Philippine Sea, where the China Coast Guard (CCG) fired a water cannon and rammed a civilian vessel of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Bajo de Masinloc last week, Trinidad said it has not changed its stance that Philippines' action should be "non-escalatory."

"All our actions should be bound by international law. All our actions should be non-escalatory. All our actions should support the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal Ruling," he said.

"Kailanman, hindi nawala ang AFP sa eksena (The AFP has never been absent from the scene). We will continue performing our mandate in spite of all the ICAD - illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive - actions ng kabila (of the other side)," he added.

"We will not be deterred," Trinidad said, adding that the AFP will continue to conduct patrols in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).—LDF, GMA Integrated News