“Government procurement reforms should lead to the expedited purchase of defense equipment the country needs to protect its territory, especially from the illegal incursions of China in the West Philippine Sea.”
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri issued this statement after calling for the removal of bottlenecks in the government procurement of goods and services and directing it to economic managers who appeared before senators on Wednesday to defend the proposed P5.768 trillion national budget for 2024.
He said that the acquisition process can still be “stringent but speedy so that recipients will get the right equipment at the right price at the right time.”
Complementing the passage of amendments to the Government Procurement Reform Act is the pending Senate bill on boosting the domestic defense industry, the Senate chief said.
Lamenting the state of the country’s Navy and Coast Guard, Zubiri said “we need to procure the best and not necessarily the cheapest equipment because in military spending, the cheapest is not the best if it will soon fall apart.”
“There are several allies who would like to give us slightly used, not necessarily brand new, but good equipment so our law must be able to respond to this reality otherwise the acquisition will not push through for lack of legal basis,” he added.
“You know, when you buy an aircraft, even a 10-year-old aircraft, as long as it is well maintained, it can still be durable within the next 30 years,” Zubiri explained.
Being brand new should not always be equated with quality, he said, citing “the purchase of police vehicles from another country which were bugged by breakdowns and lack of spare parts.”
To complement the amendments to the government procurement law, Zubiri also pushed for the passage of Senate Bill No. 315 or the “Philippine Defense Industry Development Act,” a measure envisioned to promote the local production of defense equipment and materiel.
It revitalizes the Self Reliant Defense Posture (SRDP) Program implemented in the 1970s to support the growing military hardware requirements of the AFP. The measure seeks to strengthen the SRDP Program by incentivizing in-country enterprises to help grow the local defense industry.
“By encouraging the growth of local enterprises supplying defense equipment and hardware to our AFP, we become less reliant on other countries to fill out our defense requirements. It will also generate employment for many Filipinos in the long run,” Zubiri said.
The Senate has taken a more assertive stance against the illegal encroachment of China in the WPS, condemning the recent action of the Chinese Coast Guard to water cannon Philippine vessels making a supply run to Filipino troops onboard the BRP Sierra Madre.
It passed a resolution condemning past and recent actions of China against the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard, as well as its harassment of Filipino fishermen trying to earn a living in Philippine territory. (ai/mnm)
