Operational leases as new means to build our credible defense posture

The latest case of Chinese bullying was the Feb. 6, 2023 incident at Ayungin Shoal where the Chinese directed a military-grade laser against the Filipino crew on a support mission, causing temporary blindness to our countrymen. This worrisome incident highlights the need to find new ways to build our country’s credible defense posture to deter further bullying in our own waters.

As part of our defense assets, our country has long relied on “excess defense articles” – meaning excess equipment donated to us by other countries.

Excess defense articles remain useful to increase our capabilities; however, the costs for reconditioning and maintaining such articles becomes prohibitive over time. The reconditioning itself is expensive and usually takes nine to 12 months to undertake.

Such excess defense articles are normally given on an “as is, where is” basis after consideration by the donor country that it no longer needs such articles. This narrows our choices on the kinds of defense assets to acquire.

Outright purchases of assets for our country’s defense are, of course, ideal but come at a high cost, given our limited resources.

As part of the options of our leadership, may we respectfully suggest the possibility of operational lease of defense assets, which may allow us to obtain newer equipment at lesser cost and with faster delivery time.

Operational leases may also give us more possibilities in terms of the types of defense assets to acquire.

A good analogy would be acquiring a car. Buying a new car is usually expensive. Reconditioning and maintaining a used and donated car may also be expensive over time. But renting or leasing a car allows us to enjoy the benefits of acquiring a relatively new car, but at a cheaper price and without the waiting time for refurbishment.

Our present leadership is taking the correct steps in defending the West Philippine Sea by pursuing joint patrols with our allies and establishing the additional “Agreed Locations” under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

Our leadership should also engage with our allies to explore the possibility of operational leases of defense assets, as part of our calibrated options to increase our country’s defense capabilities.

As we have said before, we do not expect the US and our allies to fight our battles for us, but we count on their strong and unwavering assistance in building the strength and resources of the Philippines to meet challenges, especially in the context of relentless bullying by China in our own backyard.

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Amb. Del Rosario is chair of Stratbase ADR Institute, former Philippine ambassador to the US and former foreign secretary.