AFP gets 125 more US trucks

The Armed Forces of the Philippines received 125 US-made M-35 trucks, representing the second batch of excess defense articles committed by the United States government under the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), yesterday.

Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Gopilan, AFP deputy chief of staff for logistics (J4), received the trucks on behalf of the military, during a brief ceremony at the Logistics Command at Camp Aguinaldo.

Gopilan said the M-35 trucks, although second-hand, will boost the AFP's transport capability.

Col. Rafael Romero, AFP spokesman, said the government did not spend anything for the trucks (with a book value of P709,000 each), except for shipping charges of P171,000 per unit. The trucks were shipped from South Korea.

Romero said the difference between the book value and the shipping cost amounted to substantial savings for the Philippine government.

To date, the AFP has received 300 M-35 trucks since the ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which "revived" the 49-year-old MDT.

US Ambassador Thomas Hubbard turned over to the AFP the first batch of 175 M-35 trucks last Feb. 4. Thirty of these trucks were shipped to East Timor for the use of Filipino peacekeepers.

Next month, an Evans-class US Coast Guard cutter will be delivered to the AFP, according to Vice Admiral Luisito Fernandez, Navy flag-officer-in-command.

The Philippine and US governments have created separate panels that meet regularly and determine what excess defense articles the AFP can avail of.