The Philippines is in talks with the United States over the possible purchase of the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System, a multiple rocket launcher that could be used to defend the country’s assets in the West Philippine Sea, a Hong Kong-based newspaper said Friday.
“If deployed, the long-range, precision-guided rockets fired by the system would be able to strike Chinese man-made islands on reefs in the Spratly chain,” the SCMP said, noting that HIMARS is a lighter, more mobile six-barreled version of the US Army’s M270 multiple rocket launch system, and can shoot rockets out to 70 kilometers and GPS-guided ballistic missiles out to 300 kilometers.
But the Hong Kong newspaper said that funding from acquisition is a problem.
“The two sides have been unable to reach a deal because HIMARS could be too expensive for Manila given its tight defense budget,” the newspaper said.
Reports indicate that the cost of HIMARS is split between the launcher itself and separate contracts for various munitions including guided and unguided rockets, the longer-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, and weapons under development such as extended-range rockets and the Precision Strike Missile.
Some estimates put the cost of a HIMARS guided rocket at $100,000 to $200,000 apiece, or an ATACMS at more than $700,000 apiece. Another clue is that Poland recently signed a $414-million contract for 18 launchers plus support and training.
SCMP said a big HIMARS purchase would certainly drain the Philippine Defense Department’s budget of only $3.4 billion.
The paper said the HIMARS had been deployed here by the US Marines in 2016 in the Balikatan joint US-Philippine military exercies.
Meanwhile, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said that President Rodrigo Duterte, as chief architect of the country’s foreign policy, can temporarily put aside, but not set aside, the 2016 arbitral award by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Carpio, who has been advocating for the government to assert the Arbitral Award, said that in law, to “set aside” a ruling is to abandon, overrule, reverse or annul the ruling.
“In this legal sense, the President under Philippine law has no authority to “set aside” the arbitral ruling issued by the Hague tribunal,” Carpio said.
Nonetheless, Carpio pointed out that the President can temporarily “put aside” the arbitral ruling, but can still assert it an appropriate time in the future.
Carpio was reacting to a statement by President Duterte, who quoted Chinese President Xi Jinping as saying Beijing would agree to a 60-40 sharing scheme in the proposed joint oil and gas exploration if the Philippines would “set aside” the arbitral ruling.
Also on Friday, US and Philippines security officials reaffirmed their commitments under the Mutual Defense Treaty and agreed to enhance cooperation in counterterrorism, maritime security, cybersecurity, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, after Admiral Philip Davidson, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Armed Forces of Philippines chief Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr. led the meeting of the 2019 Mutual Defense Board and Security Engagement Board at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
“Today, we addressed regional security challenges together as friends, allies, and partners,” Davidson said.
“We will continue to stand together on the foundation of common interests and values. Our national security, including economic security, is reliant on a free and open Indo-Pacific and a rules-based international order,” the US official added.
At the conclusion of the event, Madrigal was presented with the Legion of Merit for his outstanding contributions to the US-Philippine alliance. The Legion of Merit is the highest US military decoration that may be awarded to foreign military personnel.
“The enhancement of our defense cooperation is the only way for us to move forward and be prepared for the challenges of this ever-evolving world,” Madrigal said.
This year’s meeting resulted in more than 300 planned security cooperation activities for 2020, as compared to 281 from 2019, the US embassy said.
