ARMED Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr yesterday said the military will seek the help of the United States armed forces in the conduct of resupply missions for Filipino troops in the West Philippine Sea only when the troops are out of supplies and on the verge of dying due to Chinese efforts to block such missions.
Brawner made the remarks after a Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board meeting with Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City.
During a forum last Tuesday, Paparo said the US military is open to escorting the rotation and reprovisioning (RoRe) of the Armed Forces, noting that “is an entirely reasonable option within our Mutual Defense Treaty.”
Brawner said the Armed Forces will continue to do the resupply mission on its own, at least for now.
“We will depend on ourselves first and we will try to exhaust all the options first before asking help… The Armed Forces of the Philippines is very much capable of conducting the RoRe safely and successfully,” said Brawner.
“If we exhaust all of the options and nothing works, then that’s the time we can ask for help. What we want to say is we will do it on our own as long we can,” he said.
Asked what will prompt the Armed Forces to seek US assistance, Brawner said, “When our troops are already hungry.”
“They don’t have any supplies anymore because our resupply missions have been blocked and that they’re on the verge of dying. That’s the time we’re going to seek the help of the United States,” he added.
Chinese vessels have harassed resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal in the past, leading to the damage of military-chartered resupply boats and Philippine Coast Guard vessels escorting them, and injuries to military personnel.
The last RoRe to Ayungin Shoal on July 27, however, was successful, as it proceeded without any Chinese interference. It came a week after the two nations reached a “provisional arrangement” on the conduct of such missions to deescalate the tension in the disputed area.
Brawner said the military has a lot of options on how to proceed with the RoRe missions, including the possibility of “working together with our treaty allies in the United States.”
Paparo said, “We stand ready. It’s a matter of policy post-consultation and there’s a range of options that are available.” He reiterated the US’ willingness to escort RoRe missions of the Philippine military.
Brawner said the Armed Forces is happy that the US military “has given us a lot of options, including that of joining or escorting us for the RoRe.”
During the MDB-SEB meeting, the two military leaders discussed activities that would be pursued by the two armed forces next year, including the huge-scale “Balikatan” exercise.
Brawner could not immediately the number of troops from both sides who will be taking part in next year’s Balikatan exercise which he said will be focused on “maritime defense, maritime security.”
Paparo said they also discussed designated sites under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement sites and Mutual Defense Treaty.
EDCA allows the Americans to construct facilities in agreed locations for prepositioning of assets for territorial defense and humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations.
Paparo on Wednesday visited Basa Air Base in Pampanga, one of the nine EDCA sites.
He was accompanied by Brawner Jr during the visit to the home of 5th Fighter Wing of the Philippine Air Force.
Basa Air Base underwent a major upgrade under the EDCA, including P1.3-billion runway rehabilitation, enabling it to accommodate large and heavy aircraft.
Basa Air Base has been “equipped with various infrastructure upgrades and facilities” under EDCA, said Col. Xerxes Trinidad, chief of the AFP’s public information office.
These infrastructure and facilities, he said, are meant to “support the Philippine military’s modernization efforts and contribute to the overall security and defense posture in the region.”
The air base was among the five EDCA sites approved during the time of President Aquino II. The four others were Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City and Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu.
Four other EDCA were approved during the current Marcos administration. These are Lal-lo airport and Naval Base Camilo Osias, both in Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Isabela; and Balabac Island in Palawan.
NEGLECT
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro yesterday said the government acted too late in countering the threats posed by China in the West Philippine Sea because of the generational neglect of the country’s air and sea assets.
“The lesson is we procrastinated in putting aside a threat and in these types of situations, time is an asset you cannot recover anymore,” Teodoro told the budget hearing of the House committee on appropriations on the Department of National Defense’s P256.1-billion proposed for 2025.
The DND’s budget is 6.4 percent higher than this year’s P240.6 billion.
“Naval and air capabilities are subsumed to the initial strategic decision to harden the areas. We should have done it immediately at that time,” he said.
Teodoro said the government has no choice but to play catch-up now and trying to work “double time where we can” to fix its past mistakes.
He said the Philippines has started soliciting offers for its plans to procure 40 new multi-role fighters to achieve its target of having a credible air defense.
Teodoro said bidders must submit a proposed financing package that would allow payment to be spread out but did not specify which models the DND is eyeing to procure.
“Until we find those kinds of creative financing, we have to work within the confines of the revised AFP modernization program,” he said.
Teodoro earlier said the country needs “faster and more lethal” multi-role jet fighters to help top of the FA-50s it bought from South Korea.
The DND’s priorities for 2025 include strengthening the country’s “archipelagic defense” and protecting the country’s sovereignty, including its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
The DND is also working on securing the Philippine (Benham) Rise and the eastern seaboard to protect it from illegal occupation. “Everybody is naturally focused on the West Philippine Sea right now, but there is also a vast area we have to protect,” Teodoro said.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is interested in a host country agreement (HCA) with the Philippines to facilitate the international body’s hearings in the country, according to PCA secretary general Marcin Czepelak who is in Manila and was welcomed by President Marcos Jr. in Malacañang.
Details about the HCA were unavailable.
PCA, in its website, through an HCA, the international body and the host country will “establish a legal framework under which future PCA-administered proceedings can be conducted in the territory of the host country on an ad hoc basis, without the need for a permanent physical PCA presence in that territory.”
In 2016, the PCA invalidated China’s claim to almost the entire South China Sea, including areas claimed by the Philippines.
The President, in a social media post, said his meeting with Czepelak, focused on “our shared commitment to upholding international law, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region.”
“As we mark the PCA’s 125th anniversary, let me remind everyone that the Philippines stands firm in solving conflicts through peaceful discourse. Our nation promotes peace within the region and beyond,” Marcos said.
Czepelak, who will be in the country until today, is set to meet with the country’s arbitration community in a forum hosted by the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center; address law practitioners, the academe and students at a forum at the Ateneo School of Law; and attend an outreach program. — With Wendell Vigilia and Jocelyn Montemayor
