Gibo seeks private sector help to modernize AFP

MANILA, Philippines —Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. has called on private business leaders and exectutives to help the government find more ways to finance the modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Speaking at the general meeting of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) on Wednesday, Teodoro urged executives and managers to develop “creative financing solutions to help the national government ease the burden that an honest-to-goodness modernization will create in the fiscal position of the government.”

He, however, rejected “malicious insinuations” that the military is preparing for war or provoking a conflict with its stepped up efforts to train its personnel. China’s provocations at sea – specifically targetting Filipinos – have raised fears that an armed confrontation is likely to break out anytime.

Citing the huge cost of sustaining the modernization of the AFP, Teodoro explained the government has to strike a balance between growing or stabilizing the economy and spending for infrastructure, social services, education and various other priorities.

“We need to find off-budget, non-traditional financing sources for modernization but not (based) on the model of the old BCDA (Bases Conversion and Development Authority), where land was traded for modernization,” he said.

“Therefore, I ask your help for creative financing for us where we can spread out the terms of whatever financial arrangements we can make to limit the size of amortizations that the national government will make to make it more palatable,” he added.

Teodoro underscored the importance of private sector support for the military’s aiming for a credible defense posture.

“We will need your support in the future because this is a continuing struggle for our territorial integrity, sovereignty, and sovereign rights amidst significant challenges to try not only to make our EEZ (exclusive economic zone) and other areas where we have jurisdiction smaller, to constrict it, but also weaken our resolve to stand up and resist attempts to change the narrative of what international law is and what belongs to the Filipinos,” he said.

He also stressed that the AFP is not pursuing modernization in preparation for hostilities with another country.

But he admitted the need for the country to build up its defense posture amid “geopolitical problems worldwide” such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Gaza problem, and the tensions in the West Philippine Sea with China that “have affected the business cycles in the Philippines” and “caused some lack of confidence in the geopolitical stability of the region.”

The DND chief told business leaders that under the new Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept, the country “will project our defensive capabilities to secure not only the land base of the Philippines but its exclusive economic zone and other areas where we have jurisdiction.”

Teodoro also thanked the MAP for voicing its support for the AFP following the June 17 disruption of a supply mission to BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal by Chinese coast guard personnel.

“Our troops in LS-57, contrary to some naysayers, exercise the highest degree of professionalism and mission focus. Had there been any indiscipline on their part, then something catastrophic could have happened,” he said, referring to the Sierra Madre by its bow number.