THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Act, RA 7898, was enacted on February 23, 1995, during the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos, with a budget of R50 billion for 15 years. Funding was halted in the wake of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and succeeding administrations neglected the program until it expired in 2010.
A new AFP Modernization Act, RA 10349, was enacted on December 11, 2012, during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, with a budget of R75 billion for the first five years of a 15-year program. It is under this new program that the Philippines has been acquiring new planes, helicopters, warships, armored personnel carriers, rocket launchers and radios, and arms and ammunition.
A Senate hearing on the acquisition of four frigates from South Korea for R18 billion was held last week, specifically on charges that Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go tried to influence the deal. He denied the accusation, pointing out that the deal had been finished during the Aquino administration.
During the hearing, Rear Admiral Robert Empedrad, flag-office-in-command of the Philippine Navy, disclosed that the four warships are just part of the plan for the Philippine Navy. The PN, he said, requires six more such warships, armed with missiles, in the next ten years.
Earlier in the Senate hearing, Admiral Empedrad called for the country to have its own fleet of submarines which, he said, are the future of naval warfare. With submarines, he said, the Philippines would get the respect of other countries and navies.
In recent years, the Philippines has concentrated its limited military resources on land battles with local rebel forces. Its few planes were used to support these land operations. But the country is an archipelago of over 7,100 islands with only a few vessels in the Philippine Navy to patrol the seas in and around the country.
As early as the Ramos administration, the country had planned a modernization of the Armed Forces, but economic problems delayed its implementation. Today, 23 years later, under the Duterte administration, we are moving to implement that program, which has to compete with other government programs in infrastructure, education, economic development, etc.
But we are finally carrying out the program, acquiring items that we most sorely need, such as arms for the Army, planes for the Air Force, and warships for the Navy. As for submarines, they are not on any program covered by the AFP Modernization Act of 2012 which we are now implementing.
But the idea is worth greater study and consideration, as part of plans for a stronger Navy for our island country.
As Admiral Empedrad said, submarines are the future of naval warfare. More important, they will inspire greater respect from other countries which now tend to look down on our capability to defend ourselves.
