PHL receives list of weaponry to be donated by US
THE Philippine defense department has received a list of military equipment that will be given by the Pentagon, the country’s envoy to the United States said on Friday.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte recently demanded that Washington must provide payment for the continuation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the two countries.
Philippine Ambassador Jose Manuel G. Romualdez said the list of weaponry to be donated by the US would be enough to “satisfy” the President’s concern regarding the modernization of the Philippine Armed Forces.
More arms and “whatever hardware” the country needs from the US will be coming soon, he said in a televised news briefing.
He said a “long list” was given to Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, “which is technically what we programmed for the past five years, since 2016 actually,” Mr. Romualdez said.
Manila will also receive ten more Blackhawk helicopters within this year, the diplomat said.
The tough-talking Duterte last month said the US should pay a certain amount if it wants to keep its VFA with the Philippines. Mr. Duterte suspended the military pact, which sets the rules for troop deployment during war games, last year.
Mr. Romualdez said the VFA and Mutual Defense Treaty were discussed in a virtual bilateral strategic dialogue between the two countries in late February, which involved US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and a certain American defense official in charge of Asian areas.
“Yung sinabi ni President Duterte tungkol doon sa pagbayad, ang interpretation namin ay dahil kailngan i-modernize nga ang ating armed forces (What President Duterte said about payment, our interpretation is that it’s because there is a need to modernize our armed forces),” Mr. Romualdez said.
“I think we will continue to have good relations with this country and so all of these problems (will be sorted out) in a way that is mutually beneficial to all of us,” he added.
The Philippines this year celebrates its 75th diplomatic relations with its former colonizer. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
