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Friday, March 29, 2024

Diversify weapons sources, DND says

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SOME countries are now offering the Philippines defense equipment for its military modernization program as President Rodrigo Duterte seeks alliances with other countries aside from the United States, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Friday. 

“Is it time for us to look for others for our military defense materials? It’s time,” Lorenzana told members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines. 

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana

“Many ambassadors have come to me offering a lot of equipment. I see this as a healthy development with our relationship with other countries. They are offering to sell to us.”

Lorenzana issued his statement even as Duterte has threatened to scrap the Philippines’ Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with the United States that was signed in 2014.

“We can also buy missiles from other countries like Germany, Israel and South Korea. We can also buy from France,” Lorenzana said. 

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But he emphasized that US-made materials and technology remained well-known worldwide.

Earlier, Duterte ordered the Defense department and the Armed Forces to look for other military markets like Russia and China for sophisticated weapons.

Lorenzana said it would be up to the government to scrap Edca.

“Well, it’s an option because there is a one- year notice to terminate it. But it’s the decision for the  higher-ups. I’m not saying we have to scrap it,” he said.

“Whatever the decision of the government, we will follow. I was not part of the people who crafted Edca, and I would love to study it myself.

“Looking at Edca, there are many things that we can get such as facilities and the development of our camps. EDCA is to our benefit.”

But he said China and Russia also had a lot to offer. 

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