ARMED Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr said Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian has proposed to him the conduct of joint military exercises between Philippines and China.
Brawner said the proposal was “informal.”
“We talked about it a while ago, they offered… It’s just informal,” he said on the sidelines of the celebration of the 96th foundation anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China at the Edsa Shangri-la Hotel on Wednesday night.
Asked who made the offer, Brawner said “the ambassador.”
“They offered that prospect but we have to study further,” he said.
The Philippines, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan are locked in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea. China, which is claiming almost the entire South China Sea, has turned aggressive in its claims in the past years.
Asked if the proposed military exercise is in the South China Sea, Brawner just said, “No.”
He did not give details of the proposed exercise.
Brawner said Philippine military’s engagements with China include exchange of officers for training purposes.
During the Marawi City siege in 2017, Brawner said, China donated sniper rifles and ammunition.
“We used them (rifles) them, the sniper rifles from China… and they proved to be very effective in our campaign against local terrorists,” he said.
Brawner said China has also donated engineering equipment, including trucks, and other non-war materiel to the Armed Forces in the past.
Brawner also called the PLA anniversary celebration “a very significant activity for us, especially from Armed Forces of the Philippines.”
“We are actually following the statement of our President, President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr when he said that we are friends to all, enemies to none,” he said.
“So we will naturally toe the line. That is what we are going to do. We’ll try to establish relations with armies, with armed forces around the world and this is one way for us to actually to prevent war,” said Brawner.
Last month, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said there is nothing wrong if the two armed forces will hold military exercises if these are “confidence-building and trust training.”
“If this serves the interest of Filipinos and it’s decided, naturally by the President and by the whole security cluster, we (defense and military establishments) are going to follow,” Teodoro said then.
The conduct of military exercises between Philippines and China was initially broached during the previous administration but it did not materialize. The Philippines has no Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with China.
MODERNIZATION
Brawner said the military has lined several projects for acquisition under Horizon 3 of the modernization program of the Armed Forces. Horizon 3 is due to be implemented this year up to 2028.
During a post-State of the Nation Address briefing on Wednesday, Brawner said the projects include multi-role fighter and submarines.
“For the third horizon of the modernization program, we are looking at acquiring multi-role fighter aircraft, naval assets, command and control or C2 systems, shore-based deterrent capabilities, submarines and the like,” said Brawner.
In May, the President said acquisition of submarines “is still part of our plan.” He said other projects will have to come first and “hopefully, when the time comes and the conditions are agreeable then we might be able to acquire those submarines.”
Brawner also said the military is aiming to develop its cyber warfare capability.
“This is one capability where we could excel in the Armed Forces of the Philippines and we could be at par with even the modern countries,” he said.
Brawner said the AFP is also looking into the training of its personnel “in order for us to be able to really cope with the demands of the regional threats and also to make sure that we will be able to use the equipment, the modern equipment properly. We also have to take care the modern equipment, we have to sustain them properly,” said Brawner.
‘PRUDENT APPROACH’
Sen. Imee Marcos yesterday advised her colleagues to “calm down” on Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea and expressed belief the problem can best be resolved through a “very pragmatic and prudent approach.”
The presidential sister made the remark as the Senate continued to deliberate on a resolution filed by Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros urging government to sponsor a resolution before the United Nations General Assembly to compel China to respect the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration against its massive claim, so it can stop harassing Philippine vessels within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
She said bringing the matter before the UNGA might further agitate China.
“Many of my colleagues are very keen on it and I’m not one to oppose them. In my opinion, we already have in hand the arbitral judgment. I also worry that we may not get the votes necessary, ang laking kahihiyan niyan kung matalo tayo. Mas lalong malulusaw ang ating dream (that will be big setback for us if we lose [in the voting]. Our victory in the Hague will further melt down),” Marcos said at the Kapihan sa Senado media forum.
The Senate was supposed to adopt the resolution on Wednesday afternoon but Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano requested a deferral pending further discussions among senators on the very sensitive issue.
He asked why the resolution is singling out China when Vietnam and Malaysia, which are allies of the Philippines but also have claims to the South China Sea, have also built structures inside the Philippines’ EEZ.
Cayetano also pointed out that it is not right that the Senate is telegraphing its punches to “the other side” and their course of action can best be discussed in closed doors.
“This could cause embarrassment in the Senate if the President orders the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) not to file the resolution. On the other hand, if it is going to file a resolution, why not hear this in a committee, get the input of the NTS-WPS (National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea), get the input of 24 senators, and strengthen it?” he said.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who has expressed full support to the resolution, acceded to Cayetano’s request and said that they will further discuss the matter together with officials of the DFA, the task force, and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.
Zubiri, in a statement on Thursday, said the Senate is one “in the desire to condemn the harassment and bullying of our fisherfolk and coast guard in the West Philippine Sea, and ultimately enforce the 2016 Arbitral Award” but senators may differ on how to “to go about” in this situation.
“We are still confident that the resolution will pass next week. As to whether we will retain the original wording, that remains to be seen,” Zubiri said.
He said the “ultimate aim” of the resolution is for the government to take concrete action because it is hard to talk with China whose actions, he said, do not match its friendly attitude towards the country in relation to the issues at WPS.
Hontiveros said her resolution is “just a simple expression of the Senate” of “what we feel the Executive may further do.”
She said the resolution is not compelling the Executive Branch to follow the Senate as she just wants to take the opportunity of the “growing international consensus” after more countries have expressed support to the arbitral ruling. — With Raymond Africa
