Funding hinders Air Force modernization - COA

MANILA, Philippines - Despite the passage of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Act in 1995, the Commission on Audit yesterday said funding problems are hindering efforts to improve the sorry state of the Philippine Air Force (PAF).

In a 2010 report, state auditors emphasized the need to improve the country’s air defense capabilities considering the various issues that threaten Philippine security.

“One need not be a security expert to point out that the many unresolved territorial and boundary issues in the Asia-Pacific region could lead to conflict,” COA said, referring to the “volatile security situations” on matters concerning the Spratly Islands, Sabah, and the Indonesian baselines.

According to state auditors, even the Constitution is becoming a stumbling block in efforts to modernize the military, particularly the PAF which has but 31 old airplanes and 54 helicopters.

COA earlier reported that ageing aircraft have claimed the lives of 305 pilots during the past 20 years because of 156 crash incidents. The number does not include civilian and military passengers.

Former congressman Rozzano Rufino Biazon, in his report titled Defense Budgeting in the Philippines, said: “A lid is placed over the AFP by the fact that its allocated budget should not exceed the budget of the Department of Education (DepEd), as prescribed by the Constitution.”

“This also impedes the AFP from achieving its set goals to improve its equipment to be at par with other nations in the region,” state auditors quoted Biazon as saying.

COA noted that Article XIV, Section 5(5) of the Philippine Constitution specifically provides that “the State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education.”

The audit report said the assets and equipment of the Air Force should be modernized since it is the country’s first line of external defense.

“Sadly, this did not totally materialize because of the perennial problem of funding,” COA said.

The 10th Congress approved an overall budget of P331.6 billion spread over a 15-year period with an initial funding of P50 billion for the first five years of implementation, an amount that will only be enough to develop the AFP’s “core capabilities to the bare essentials.”

State auditors said an inquiry into the extent of compliance with the AFP Modernization Act disclosed that from 1996 to 2009, only P33.9 billion was made available to the PAF. The amount is only 64 percent of the first tranche of P50 billion but only 10.22 percent compliance rate of the overall approved budget and worse, only P1.7 billion or five percent went to PAF between the period of August 2004 to November 2008.