GOVERNMENT will increase its annual defense spending, according to Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
Teodoro, at the Philippine Navy-organized Maritime Security Symposium 2024 on Wednesday, said the defense spending of other developed countries is at 2 to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) while the Philippines’ is at 0.89 to 1.2 percent.
Defense spokesman Arsenio Andolong, asked yesterday how much increase Teodoro wants, said, “He is hoping for 1.8 to 2 percent of our GDP, which is the average for most countries, except for the superpowers.”
He added the country’s GDP for 2023 is at P5.89 trillion, citing information from Statista, a global data and business intelligence platform.
Teodoro said the military’s modernization program was begun “earnestly late in the day.”
“And the rule that we learn is that a day that you postpone for increasing your military capabilities means perhaps two to three times more costs, not only in acquisition but in sustainment,” he said.
“Yet we are spending on the average right now 0.89 to 1.2 percent of GDP per annum on defense, where other countries, developed countries at that, are spending now because of the challenges and the volatility of the world security situation from 2 to 2.5 percent of GDP,” he said.
“China has increased its defense spending by 7 percent,” he added.
Reports said China’s defense spending for this year is nearly 1.67 trillion yuan ($232 billion).
“So we are trying to introduce increased defense spending in a way which our economy can absorb,” said Teodoro, without giving figures.
Teodoro said that in order to offset “difficulties,” the government is entering into alliances with like-minded countries.
He also said the military is engaged in training exercises with other countries to gain experience. He said the exercises will be continuous and the training scenarios “shall be more varied,” and will be “more multilateral with more maritime cooperative activities and other activities.”
“We aim to enter into more partnerships with like-minded nations, enter into more status of visiting forces agreements with other countries that have values that are aligned with our values and that support our position in the West Philippine Sea, and support our stand against a unilateral illegal action by a theater actor that tries to bully us, to change the narratives, and tries to even subvert us within our own country,” he said.
The Philippines has a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with US and a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement with Australia. These agreements provide legal framework for the conduct of military exercises.
The Philippines and Japan are finalizing a VFA-like reciprocal access agreement which is being eyed to be signed within the year. This will pave the way for the conduct of larger military exercises between Filipino and Japanese troops.
‘MALIGN INFLUENCE’
Teodoro said the newly-introduced Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC) also seeks to guard against “foreign malign influence.”
He announced the CADC last January, seven months after assuming as defense chief. The CADC, he initially said, seeks to guarantee Philippine nationals, corporations and those authorized by the Philippine government “ unimpeded and peaceful exploration and exploitation of all natural resources within our exclusive economic zone and other areas where we have jurisdiction.”
In March, Teodoro said they are, under the CADC, “developing our capability to protect and secure our entire territory and exclusive economic zone in order to ensure that our people and all the generations of Filipinos to come shall freely reap and enjoy the bounties of the natural resources that are rightfully ours within our domain.”
Providing another glimpse of the CADC on Wednesday, Teodoro said the defense concept shall “protect our whole territory on a 360-degree basis, not only in the West Philippine Sea but on the eastern seaboard and our southern boundaries.”
“No country in the world is worth calling a strong country if it does not have the means to defend itself. And if it does not have a realistic means, we must start, if we are to make resilience an asset of our country, not for us but for future generations,” he said.
Teodoro said the CADC is also meant to seeks to “guard against foreign malign influence that affects our national defense.”
He said the government is “not being paranoid” and “not being racist.”
“But we are being realistic. Malign influence exists not only here but elsewhere,” he said, without naming a country, specifically China which has become aggressive in its claim over features in the West Philippine Sea over the past years.
Chinese vessels have harassed Philippine vessels in the area in the past months in the area, including at the Scarborough Shoal and at the Philippine-occupied Ayungin Shoal, leaving injuries to Philippine Navy personnel and damage to vessels.
“And we cannot discount also the fusion between illegal criminal activities like human trafficking, drugs, and other criminal activities which may be used in order to weaken the moral fabric of a country,” Teodoro said.
DETERRENT
Teodoro urged the media to be “very responsible” in reporting national security matters and to guard against “creating hysteria or racist sentiments elsewhere.
“Then again, we have to be open to the reality that we are vulnerable to threats, not only cyber threats but also to information, asymmetric information, disinformation in operations,” he said.
Teodoro said the CADC is meant to “create a credible deterrent to malign behavior and a credible deterrent in order to discourage attempts to subvert our territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
He said the defense concept is “mostly about deterrence and also about pushback when needed.”
“However, a pound of prevention, an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. I think it works in this. So those are the basic outlines of the comprehensive archipelagic defense concept,” he said.
RECRUITMENT
Teodoro said recruitment of military officers and enlisted personnel will be changed under the CADC.
He said he has already talked with the AFP deputy chief of staff for personnel to bring up the recruitment age because people do not want to work immediately at a young age.
“So to have a maximum commissioning age of 26 or enlisted age of 26 may not be practicable and we may be shutting out a lot of talented and qualified individuals from serving with us,” said Teodoro.
Also, he said the reserve force development will also be enhanced “given the psychology of our generations right now.”
“A lot of them may not want to wear a uniform but may want to help, so we might as well take advantage of that,” he said.
PUBLIC CAUTIONED
The Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday cautioned the public against falling for false narratives on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue following the release of a transcript of a supposed phone conversation between the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Western Command and a Chinese official over Ayungin Shoal.
“Resorting to tactics such as releasing unverifiable recordings of supposed conversations with Philippine officials could demonstrate efforts to sow discord and confusion among Philippine agencies and the Filipino public,” DFA spokesperson Teresita Daza said in a statement.
The DFA issued the statement after China released to select media outlets the alleged transcript of the supposed conversation between AFP Wescom chief Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos and a Chinese diplomat concerning a “new model” on managing the situation in Ayungin Shoal.
Carlos took a leave this week but the AFP said it was for personal reasons and had nothing to do with the Ayungin issue.
But Daza said diplomats should strictly adhere to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR), particularly Article 41, which states that it is the duty of all persons to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State.
“They also have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State,” Daza added.
Earlier, the DFA said no official of the Marcos administration entered into any agreement with China regarding the Ayungin as only the President “can approve or authorize agreements entered into by the Philippine Government on matters pertaining to the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea.”
Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr, on the supposed new model, urged the media and the public “to handle such reports with care and to avoid spreading unverified information that could further escalate tensions or mislead public opinion.”
In a statement on Wednesday night, Brawner also said, “The AFP will not dignify the claim of the Chinese Embassy in Manila that our organization has agreed to a ‘new model’ for conduct in the Ayungin Shoal.”
“China’s claim of an audio recording allegedly between Vice Admiral Carlos and a Chinese diplomat does not merit significant concern as it appears to be a malign influence effort from the Chinese Communist Party,” he added.
“Transcripts can easily be fabricated, and audio recordings can be manufactured by using deepfakes. These reports only aim to serve as a distraction from the China Coast Guard’s ongoing aggressive behavior in the West Philippine Sea,” said Brawner.
Brawner said the military remains to be “professional organization.” — With Ashzel Hachero
