The Philippine Online Chronicles

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will come up with a shopping list of military gear worth P40 billion as part of its modernization program being enacted over the next five years.

Philippine Navy chief Alexander Pama said in a radio interview that the AFP is still discussing the proper allocation of funds but confirmed that the Navy is poised to receive a huge budget allocation, according to the Philippine Star.

The same report said that only 26 out of the 53 patrol ships in the Navy’s inventory are operational, and these are an average of 36.4 years old. Only three out of seven Navy transport vessels and four out of ten Navy auxiliary ships are operational.

Earlier, Philippine ambassador to the US Jose L. Cusia Jr. asked the Department of National Defense and the AFP to provide him with a list of military equipment needed to beef up the country’s defenses amid ongoing dispute over the Spratly islands in the South China Sea.

AFP chief Gen. Eduardo Oban said the military is also focusing on building up “baseline capability” aside from pursuing internal security operations.

Department of Budget Management secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad announced on Sunday that the Aquino government will spend a total of P40 billion over the next five years, starting with P8 billion next year, for the upgrading of the military’s capabilities.

One progressive lawmaker meanwhile opposed the planned P40-billion military upgrade, saying the funds can be used for education.

“Why spend billions on ships and planes, when we can’t even have enough teachers, books, and school chairs?" said Bayan Muna representative Teddy Casiño. "As of 2011, the government admitted that it lacks around 100,000 teachers, 150,000 classrooms, 13.5 million chairs, and 95.5 million textbooks.”

The government raised the military’s budget this year to P11 billion from the P5 billion being received by the AFP annually from 2005 to 2010.