Critics of Philippines -Israel missile deal misinformed – AFP exec

MANILA, Philippines - The defense and military establishments have good reasons not to continue with the missile deal with Israel and critics were simply misinformed as to why the last-minute decision was made, a senior military official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the $142-million (P6.5-billion) Shore-Based Missile System (SBMS) deal with Israel had to be postponed and moved to 2nd Horizon Project (2018-2023) to ensure that it meets the country’s territorial defense requirements.

“Our top defense and military planners only wanted that the shore-based missile system we are acquiring for territorial and external defense are mission capable,” the official said without going into details.

When prodded further, the official said had the P6.5-billion missile deal with Israel Military Industries (IMI) has pushed, the government could have wasted much-needed financial resources in acquiring the non-mission capable defense equipment.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Hernando Iriberri announced the postponement of the SBMS deal with Israel in favor of purchasing protective and combat gear for troops to effectively combat internal security threats.

Iriberri made known this decision then as Army chief, while the country is facing its biggest threat with China’s occupation of the islands and reefs in the South China Sea.

Iriberri was criticized over this decision, with Roilo Golez, former national security adviser and ex-Parañaque lawmaker, expressing his disappointment.

“I am very disappointed with him,” said Golez, a former naval officer.

Golez pointed out that no less than National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia has admitted the real and the biggest imminent security challenge the country is facing right now is China’s aggressive activities in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Golez lamented that Iriberri focused on internal security threats instead of efforts to protect and secure the country from foreign incursions.

Golez also questioned the wisdom of why the multi-billion defense SMBS was given to the Army instead of the Philippine Navy, the latter being frontline defenders of the country’s maritime domain.

“The regional security right now can be likened to a robbery were a robber is already knocking at your door, but because you only have a home-made gun, you tell everybody to just keep quiet while waiting for extra money to buy original guns to fight the intruders,” Golez said.

He pointed out the SBMS project could have been a good move to jump-start President Aquino’s promise of minimum credible external defense capability against the aggression of China in the West Philippine Sea.

In defense of Iriberri, another military official said the missile deal with Israel is highly disadvantageous to the Philippine government, not only because it is old technology but it also has a very limited defensive capability.