CHINA has earmarked a donation of military equipment worth 100 million yuan or around P720 million, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Tuesday.
He said a technical working group would be formed to study the acquisition procedures and the equipment to be requested with the grant.
He said he and President Rodrigo Duterte met Monday night with Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua and part of their discussion was a possible soft loan amounting to $500 million.
“He [Zhao] asked what they could give us worth 100 million yuan which is equivalent to 720 million pesos,” Lorenzana said.
“He gave us a list of equipment that we could ask for.”
Lorenzana said they were thinking of getting small arms, fast boats and night-vision goggles that could be given to them in the first or second quarter next year.
He said the soft loan worth $500 million for a big-ticket item could be finalized in the second quarter of 2017.
He said the other things they discussed with Zhao were issues on terrorism and illegal drugs.
“They want to help us fight terrorism and drugs,” Lorenzana said.
“I know your problems in terrorism, I know your problems in drugs, so we would like to help you,” Lorenzana quoted Zhao as saying during their meeting.
Earlier, Duterte said Beijing should not be totally blamed for the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country where most of the listed leaders of the big-time drug syndicates were Chinese nationals.
Duterte’s war on drugs has already claimed the lives of 6,000 drug lords, pushers and users.
He intends to intensify his campaign to eliminate drug pushers who, he said, were made up mostly of rogue policemen, military officials, village captains, local chief executives and even congressmen and senator.
He claims Senator Leila de Lima received drug money especially when she was Justice secretary, which De Lima denies.
Duterte is continuously being criticized here and abroad for his bloody campaign against illegal drugs.
But Duterte continues to taunt the US government and has threatened to abrogate the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement, which would send home the American forces and equipment stationed in the country.