SPEAKER Martin Romualdez on has appealed for increased foreign military financing (FMF) from the United States, currently at $40 million annually, in the face of China’s heightened aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
The Speaker made the pitch Tuesday in his meetings with US lawmakers, including Senators William Francis Hagerty of Tennessee and Christopher Van Hollen of Maryland, and Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama.
Romualdez said the meetings were meant to promote national defense and regional security cooperation.
“Given the strength of our alliance, the complexity of our evolving challenges, and our expanding engagements, I hope you will agree that the FMF also needs an increase,” he said.
The US FMF program provides grants for acquiring US defense equipment, services, and training. It aims to promote US national security interests by contributing to regional and global stability, strengthening military support for democratically-elected governments, and containing transnational threats, including terrorism and trafficking in narcotics, weapons, and persons.
Romualdez also expressed his “deep gratitude” to Hagerty, a Republican, and Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, a Democrat, for sponsoring in the US Senate the proposed Philippines Enhanced Resilience Act of 2024 (PERA), the bill that seeks $500 million a year in FMF for the Philippines for 2025 through 2029 for a total of $2.5 billion for five years.
The bipartisan measure was introduced last Tuesday, April 10, a day before the trilateral summit in Washington D.C. of US President Joe Biden, President Marcos Jr., and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
In filing the proposed law, Hagerty said the US and the Philippines should deepen further cooperation and raise the decades-long alliance to even greater heights.
For his part, Kaine said it is essential that Filipinos have the resources and support they need in the face of Chinese bullying in the WPS.
Romualdez also cited the importance of expanded multilateral joint military exercises in the Philippines not only to improve its defense strategies “but also to foster stronger ties with other allies, ensuring peace and stability in the region.”
He cited the effectiveness of the “Balikatan” exercises with the US and related activities with other regional allies.
“These exercises have shown their significant importance in boosting our tactical and operational prowess. With this program, we can improve stability, security, and peace in the Asia-Pacific region and better safeguard our nation,” the Speaker said.
AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr said last week several European countries have already expressed interest in joining multilateral maritime cooperative activities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Brawner said these countries, which he did not identify, “reached out” to the Philippine military after last Sunday’s multilateral maritime cooperative activity (MCA) held by the Philippines, the United States, Japan and Australia.
The first multilateral MCA mobilized five warships and four aircraft for the one-day activity.
In Romualdez’ meeting with the US lawmakers, the status of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the US was also discussed, including Marcos’ announcement of four additional EDCA sites last year, which increased the total to nine.
Romualdez apprised the US lawmakers on the state of work of all the infrastructure projects in the EDCA sites, including the initial 21 projects in the five original sites and additional 63 infrastructure projects agreed on by both parties during the meeting of the Mutual Defense Board and Security Engagement Board (MDB-SEB) in September last year.
