DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr yesterday said another batch of BrahMos cruise missile system is due to arrive in the country, further boosting the country’s territorial defense capability.
“These are from a previous order, ” Teodoro told reporters after a meeting with Indonesian Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin at a hotel in Mandaluyong City.
Teodoro did say exactly when the missile system will arrive but an Indian newspaper reported on Monday that a ship has been dispatched to deliver the missile system to the Philippines.
The missile system is the second of three BrahMos batteries ordered by the defense department, under the AFP modernization program, from BrahMos Aerospace for P18.9 billion. The first battery was delivered in April last year. It was not immediately clear when the third battery will be delivered.
A missile battery is usually composed of three mobile autonomous launchers with two or three missile and tracking systems.
“They are on the way and we’re going to do what is needed to make ensure they are used properly,” said Teodoro.
Teodoro said the defense department has made preparations as to where these missiles will be positioned and stored.
The contract for the acquisition of the missile system was signed in January 2022 by then-Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and BrahMos Aerospace director general Atul Dinkar Rane.
Lorenzana has said equipping the Navy with such asset was “imperative” amid the country’s continuing efforts to protect its territory and defend its national interests.
He said the BrahMos missiles, as the “world’s fastest supersonic cruise missiles,” will provide deterrence against any attempt to undermine Philippine sovereignty especially in the West Philippine Sea.”
The BrahMos missiles can be launched from a submarine, a ship, aircraft or from land.
They have a range of about 290 kilometers and travels at Mach 2.8 (3,400 kph).
Meanwhile, Teodoro said there is still no formal offer from the US to sell F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines.
“We have yet to receive a formal offer or proposal up to now,” Teodoro said.
Last week, AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr said there was still no final decision if the military is going to buy F-16s under the military’s multi-role fighters (MRF) acquisition project.
Brawner said they are studying all options, adding however that the military definitely wants to have MRF’s “because we need them for the defense of our country.”
Earlier this month, the United States’ Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced the approval of a Philippine request to buy 20 F-16 fighter jets, worth $5.58 billion or nearly P320 billion.
It said the proposed sale supports US’ foreign policy and national security “by helping to improve the security of a strategic partner that continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in Southeast Asia.”
The DSCA also said this will “increase the ability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to protect vital interests and territory, as well as expand interoperability with the US forces.”
The second missile battery delivery comes at a time when diplomatic and security ties between Manila and Beijing are strained due to frequent clashes in the South China Sea, which China claims mostly as its own, and recently accusations of espionage.
`WAVE OF CHINESE ESPIONAGE’
Teodoro pushed back strongly against China’s recent arrest of three Filipinos accused of spying, calling the allegations implausible.
Chinese authorities arrested three Filipinos and accused them of working for the Philippine intelligence agency to gather classified information on its military, the state-run China Daily reported on April 3, citing state security officials. It said the three had confessed to the crime.
“What capability do Filipinos have to spy in China?” Teodoro said. “What interest do we have in what goes inside their country? Our interest is what they are doing in the West Philippine Sea,” he added, using the term Manila uses to refer to its exclusive economic zone.
Senate majority leader Francis Tolentino yesterday said the Philippines is “facing a wave of Chinese espionage that is nothing like we have experienced in our nation’s history.”
He said the latest discoveries of Chinese spying and underwater monitoring activities are proof of China’s utter disrespect for Philippine sovereignty, considering that it treats the country as a friend.
“This espionage is not an isolated event. Again, I repeat the words coming from a resource person, ‘tip of the iceberg.’ It is an uncertain, determined, continuous, and pervasive assault on the institutions of the Republic of the Philippines. It is an assault on Filipinos,” Tolentino said as the Senate Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones continued its investigation into the arrested Chinese spies and recovery of underwater drones in parts of the country which China is using for spying activities
Tolentino was referring to the six underwater drones recovered in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte in July 2022, in Zambales in September 2022, in Misamis Oriental, and latest in San Pascual, Masbate in December 2024, and the arrest of a number of Chinese men along with their Filipino cohorts for allegedly spying on military camps other vital installation, and places of convergence.
SUBMERSIBLE DRONES
Tolentino said the Philippine government must also procure submersible drones so it can map out the country’s seabed.
He said the submersible drones recovered in Philippine waters the past months sends a shows China can infiltrate the country’s territory as it pleases.
Commodore Edwin Nera, deputy commander of the Philippine Fleet, said the presence of underwater drones coming from China means that the Philippines “need to do a lot more capability development to monitor our maritime environment.”
Nera said having a new law defining the country’s territorial waters is in the right direction to defining the Philippines’ territorial waters but is not enough to stop other countries like China from entering the country’s waters.
He said submersible drones have the capability to determine the characteristics of a seabed which is vital to military actions.
“Water characteristics affect sound propagation, meaning the sound bends, stops, bends, or amplifies in the water. And with this Mr. Chair, in underwater warfare, if I know the properties of the water, I could be able to map up plans or draft crisis action plans or even battle plans,” Nera said.
“And with these characteristics, I would be able to know where to place my fleet to maximize capabilities of my ships, specifically, Mr. Chair,” he added.
Earlier in the hearing, Tolentino asked the National Bureau of Investigation in its ongoing investigations on the alleged Chinese spies, whether they have “any specific skills that would point to them being militarily trained?”
He said that in the last few months, Chinese men have been caught in the act of secretly gathering information about the country “that bears the hallmarks of espionage” by getting information on activities on the country’s military bases, the state of military preparedness, information on the ability to protect the WPS, and where Philippine ships and sailors are located.
“The actions of these people are not just about stealing information — it is even more concerning that this information has the potential to put our country and our fellow citizens in great danger and peril. Information that could create turmoil in our economy, information that could be used to harm our fellow citizens, information that could also damage our government,” he said.
Van Homer Angluben, executive officer of the NBI’s cybercrime division, said the arrested Chinese men were surely highly-trained individuals but their looks can be deceiving since they look like any other common individual.
He added that spies who look like military personnel can be seen only in movies.
He said that is the reason the NBI is constantly coordinating with other law enforcement agencies so they can arrest more Chinese spies scattered in other parts of the country. – With Raymond Africa
