THE Armed Forces yesterday said the $500-million security assistance the United States will give to the Philippines shows the US’ determination to help upgrade the military’s capability to defend Philippine territory.
The assistance was announced Tuesday by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III and US State Secretary Antony Blinken after a meeting with their Filipino counterparts, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, in Camp Aguinaldo.
Austin described the assistance as a “once-in-a-generation investment” meant to modernize the Armed Forces and the Philippine Coast Guard.
The Armed Forces’ Western Command is at the forefront of protecting the country’s interests in the West Philippine Sea where Chinese vessels have been harassing Philippine ships.
“The Armed Forces of the Philippines warmly acknowledges the allocation of $500 million in foreign military financing,” AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said yesterday.
“It highlights the steadfast support for enhancing the capabilities of the AFP and the Philippine Coast Guard, ensuring we can effectively fulfill our territorial defense mission and contribute to regional security and maintaining a free and open Indo-pacific,” she also said.
Teodoro has said the assistance, along with the $128 million earmarked for projects under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), will booster the country’s credible defense posture. He also said every peso or dollar spent to improve the capability of the Philippines to defend itself and deter unlawful aggression “will be a plus factor against any threat, whether it be China or anyone.”
China has become aggressive in its claims in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea in the past years and has harassed Philippine resupply mission to troops stationed at Ayungin Shoal in the past months.
The Chinese did not interfere in the latest resupply mission, which was conducted last Saturday, after officials of both countries recently reached a “provisional arrangement” on the conduct of the resupply missions.
Padilla declined to further comment on the US assistance, saying, “all further details will be deferred to the Department of National Defense.”
A joint statement, issued in relation to the 2+2 meeting, said the four secretaries “expressed serious concerns about the dangerous behavior in the South China Sea over the past year that resulted in injury and damage to property.”
They also expressed concern over the “militarization of reclaimed features and unlawful maritime claims” and reaffirmed the importance of Philippine vessels’ freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
They also called on China to “comport with the international law of the sea as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to respect the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction, and to comply with the final and legally binding July 12, 2016 ruling in the Philippines v. China arbitration.”
They “welcomed diplomatic efforts to support routine and regular rotation and resupply missions; and reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of global security and prosperity.”
They committed to “deepen coordination on issues related to the South China Sea” and “explore additional opportunities to strengthen global support for upholding the international law of the sea.”
PARTNERS
Senate President Francis Escudero thanked the US “for this unprecedented assistance to and investment in the AFP which we definitely need and have been needing.”
“This shows that we (the US and the Philippines) are indeed friends and more importantly, equal partners in maintaining peace, freedom of navigation, and rules-based approach to differences and disagreements,” he added.
But for Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III, the aid will not be felt by sectors that most need assistance.
“Why doesn’t America make an unprecedented investment in our agricultural sector? Why always military hardware? And for all we know, they are going to give us their ‘surplus’ military hardware for already being obsolete or old technology,” Pimentel said.
Escudero, meanwhile, brushed aside concerns that the assistance might provoke tension with China.
“I do not think this will provoke or agitate China because strengthening one’s own military, like them and most countries, in order to keep the peace, is the right and obligation of every country,” he said.
“As I stated in my remarks at the opening of the Senate, we should — with the help of our friends, allies, and partners — build and strengthen our military not to ignite conflict but to secure the peace,” he added.
Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri welcomed the $500 million military aid, saying it would definitely give the country’s defense posture a big boost, especially in defending its territory and maintaining peace in the Indo-Pacific region.
“The US is in a position to help, and the Philippines is in a position to receive it,” Zubiri said.
“Our partnership with the US is particularly special, given how they are our treaty ally, and they share with us the same vision of democracy and the same respect for the rule of law, freedom of navigation, sovereign rights, and a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he added.
The Philippines inked a mutual defense treaty with the US in 1951 — making the US the oldest treaty ally of the Philippines.
Zubiri said the military aid will not agitate China.
“This is not agitation, it is assistance. They are helping us boost our military capability and our defense posture,” he said. — With Raymond Africa
