PH not consulting US in defense budget planning: Teodoro
The Philippines is not consulting the United States in its defense budget planning, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said Thursday.
Teodoro said this in response to a question by Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel as the House Appropriations panel deliberated over the Department of National Defense’s (DND) P229 billion proposed budget for 2024.
Citing part of the US-Philippine Bilateral Defense Guidelines, Manuel read that the US will “coordinate closely on the Philippines’ defense budget planning” when it comes to modernizing the country’s defense capabilities.
“US will have a way to kind of delve into our defense budget planning but we are not allowed to be involved in their budget. So is this one of the things you didn’t want to emphasize that’s why you didn’t highlight (DND) in the President’s budget message?” Manuel asked.
“We are not consulting the United States in our budget planning. We are just requesting capability upgrade assistance based on the MDT (Mutual Defense Treaty and other cooperation agreements,” Teodoro replied.
“Now, in terms of the capability upgrade, will be delayed if we don’t pass the general security of military information agreement of the US and other countries because this subject is highly technical and confidential,” he added.
Teodoro committed to reviewing the bilateral security guidelines between the two countries.
Manuel also questioned why the DND asked for a 12 percent increase in the budget from last year, which was P240.7 billion.
“We are asking for a percent increase because we are trying to make up for the pending programs in defense that were not implemented. A peso delayed now would be equivalent to paying P3 in the next year because no country in the world does not have a strong defense,” Teodoro said.
“That means we are trying to catch up with the defense capabilities of other countries because there is an arms race to defend their own territories…And we have to spend much on this and we are careful with the spending. This is needed because if we don’t, we will lose our sovereignty if we cannot defend ourselves. It may cost a lot but we cannot delay this,” he said.
For her part, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas asked why the country is spending on Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites, where American troops are temporarily stationed.
“The problem is, our country should not allow having shared locations like this when we are shelling out money. I think this brings us closer to risks instead of having our own defense posture,” Brosas said.
“We really need to spend. If not, then we lose our Philippine independence on it. We really need to spend. This is just assistance for us. And if it is related to other geopolitical activities of the United States, I can’t say it’s not, it’s for internal hardening of our external defense credible deterrent posture,” Teodoro answered.
Teodoro said the country has to be allied with other “like-minded” nations like the US who are in favor of making international law prevail and enforcing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Teodoro assured the lawmakers that the country has no plans to wage war against China.
He also mentioned that they do not have enough funds to spend on the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Act and on the capability to guard the West Philippine Sea. Jaspearl Tan/DMS
