MANILA: President Rodrigo Duterte recently approved the second phase of the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program (RAFPMP) with funding of about 300 billion pesos ($5.6 billion).
In an interview with Arab News, Defense Department (DND) spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said this will enable the government to get back on track establishing “a credible defense posture.”
Under horizon two of RAFPMP, which is expected to run from 2018 to 2022, new equipment will be acquired to modernize the country’s outdated military. This will include submarines, frigates, fighter aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), howitzers, crew-served weapons and radar.
Some of the items, including the submarines, were originally slated for acquisition under horizon three of the RAFPMP set for 2023 to 2028. The Duterte administration, however, decided to bring the acquisition forward to the second horizon.
Andolong cited two reasons why the government has decided to track the military’s modernization. “One is our desire, and the president recognizes this, to bring our modernization back on track. And, two, is that the ever-evolving security situation calls for it already.” He also pointed out the geopolitical climate in the region, with rising tensions between the US and China, and other countries that have interest in the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea.
“Unfortunately, we are in the middle of all of that. The government has realized that we cannot afford to just sit back and wait for these things (AFP modernization) to happen on their own. We really need to have political will,” Andolong said.
The 15-year RADPMP began during the previous administration of Benigno Aquino III, but implementation of the program was delayed. It was only toward the end of the Aquino administration that the first phase of the program was approved.
Out of the roughly $5.6 billion approved by Duterte, $2.6 billion will be for the air force, $1.4 billion for the navy, $890 million for the army, and some for the government’s arsenal and for the AFP general headquarters.
Equipment to be acquired for the air force includes multi-role fighters, radar systems, light utility and medium-lift aircraft, heavy-lift helicopters, UAVs, attack and combat utility helicopters, special mission and long-range patrol aircraft and trainer aircraft.
The navy will get frigates, corvettes, submarines, amphibious assault vehicles, anti-submarine helicopters, attack crafts, medium-lift helicopters and multi-role vessels. Purchases for the army will include towed and self-propelled howitzers, multiple-launch rocket systems, light tanks, armored recovery vehicles, tactical radios, ground mobility equipment, individual weapons, crew-served weapons and night-fighting equipment.
Also on the shopping list are combat engineers, force protection, explosives ordnance disposal, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and medical equipment.
“If we do get all of this, it will enable to us to put us back on track our objective of attaining credible defense posture,” Andolong said.
“We are talking about our capability to fulfill our mandate to protect our sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is our capability to patrol our territory and repel any invaders.”
At present, the AFP lacks the capability to even verify reports such as missiles being positioned by another country in the Spratly Islands, or airborne intruders in Philippine airspace. “Information is provided to us by our allies and from the news,” Andolong said.
The Philippines’ plan is that by 2028 AFP should be a fully capable and modernized military.
Philippines outlines $5.6bn plan to modernize forces by 2028
Philippines outlines $5.6bn plan to modernize forces by 2028
- Out of the roughly $5.6 billion approved by Duterte, $2.6 billion will be for the air force, $1.4 billion for the navy, $890 million for the army, and some for the government’s arsenal and for the AFP general headquarters
- The 15-year RADPMP began during the previous administration of Benigno Aquino III, but implementation of the program was delayed. It was only toward the end of the Aquino administration that the first phase of the program was approved
Pro-Palestine Oxbridge students set up encampments
- They are demanding transparency about the universities’ financial links to Israel
- ‘We will not move until our demands are met’
LONDON: Students at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge have set up encampments in support of Palestine, The Times reported on Monday.
Around 50 have refused to leave the lawn of King’s College, Cambridge, while students have also declared a “liberated zone” outside Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum.
A banner hung outside King’s College read: “Welcome to the people’s university for Palestine.” Chants of “stop the bombing now” have also been heard on the campus.
The protests have been organized by Oxford Action for Palestine and Cambridge for Palestine.
They are demanding transparency about the universities’ financial links to Israel, which they have described as a “settler colonial state,” and are calling for the end of all investments and endowments from Israeli and Israel-linked companies.
“We have set up camp in university grounds, and we will not move until our demands are met,” the groups said in a statement, adding that the universities are legitimate targets for protests because of their “role in the British empire and its disastrous colonial legacies.”
The Times reported that protesters had been given an itinerary for their involvement including “de-escalation training” and “banner-making.”
A spokesperson for Cambridge University said it is for the college to decide whether to call the police, adding: “The university is fully committed to academic freedom and freedom of speech within the law and we acknowledge the right to protest.
“We ask everyone in our community to treat each other with understanding and empathy. Our priority is the safety of all staff and students.
“We will not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia and any other form of racial or religious hatred, or other unlawful activity.”
The relatively small UK protests come after nearly 2,000 people were arrested across the US after widespread demonstrations on over 130 American university campuses about Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.
Muslim group issues UK Labour Party leader with demands over Gaza
- Muslim Vote group calls for ‘real action’ to regain trust
- Support for Labour in recent local elections fell in areas with high Muslim populations
LONDON: Pro-Palestinian activists have presented a list of 18 demands to the leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party and said they will not vote for the party at the next general election if he does not fulfill them.
The Muslim Vote, a campaign to get Muslim voters to back pro-Palestine candidates, has called for Sir Keir Starmer to promise to cut military ties with Israel, implement a travel ban on Israeli politicians involved in the war in Gaza and impose sanctions on companies operating in occupied territories.
The group told Starmer he must commit to “real action” and deliver on its requests if he was “serious” about his pledge to rebuild trust with those angered by his stance on the conflict in Gaza, The Telegraph reported.
Supporters would vote for the Green Party or Liberal Democrats if he could not commit to their demands, it said.
Labour’s campaign chief Pat McFadden acknowledged that Starmer’s approach to the conflict had cost the party votes at last week’s local elections. Support for Labour dropped dramatically in areas with a high Muslim populations, including Oldham in Greater Manchester, where the party lost overall control of the council in a shock defeat.
After the result, Starmer said he was determined to regain the trust of those who abandoned Labour as a result of his stance on the Gaza war but did not make any concrete pledges on the matter.
The Muslim Vote challenged Starmer with committing to the 18 demands and implementing them should he become the next prime minister.
They include removing the definition of extremism introduced by Secretary of State for Leveling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove and issuing guidance that allows Muslims to pray at school.
Philippines rules out use of water cannon in disputed South China Sea
- Philippines and China have clashed several times in disputed, resource-rich waterway
- Latest skirmish took place late last month, in an incident Manila describes as dangerous
MANILA: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that Manila will not use offensive equipment in the disputed South China Sea, after China’s coast guard used high-pressure water cannon on Philippine vessels last week.
The Philippines and China have had several confrontations in the resource-rich area, where Beijing has used water cannon against Filipino vessels in incidents Manila has described as harassment and dangerous.
The latest in a string of maritime clashes occurred on April 30 as tensions continued to rise in the vital waterway that Beijing claims almost in its entirety despite a 2016 international arbitration ruling that rejected its assertion.
“What we are doing is defending our sovereign rights and our sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea. And we have no intention of attacking anyone with water cannons or any other such offensive (weapons),” Marcos said Monday.
“We will not follow the Chinese coast guard and the Chinese vessels down that road because it is not the mission of the navy (or) our coast guard to start or to increase tensions … Their mission is precisely the opposite, it’s to lower tensions.”
Philippine vessels have been regularly targeted by Chinese ships in areas of the South China Sea that are internationally recognized as belonging to the Philippines, which Manila calls the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs last Thursday summoned Zhou Zhiyong, China’s deputy chief of mission, after the incident left a Philippine coast guard vessel and another government boat damaged.
It was the 20th protest Manila has made against Beijing’s conduct in the South China Sea this year alone, while more than 150 diplomatic complaints have been made over the past two years.
Marcos said the Philippines will continue to respond to South China Sea incidents through diplomatic means.
Marcos’s statement comes days after the defense ministers of the Philippines, the US, Japan and Australia met in Hawaii and issued a joint statement on their strong objections to the “dangerous and destabilizing conduct” of China in the South China Sea.
UK considered Rwanda-style asylum deal with Iraq
- Documents seen by Sky News reveal London has struck returns agreement with Baghdad
- They also suggest a desire to improve relations with Iran to return people to the country
LONDON: The UK considered sending asylum-seekers to Iraq for processing, new documents have shown.
Iraq is considered very dangerous, with the UK government advising against all travel to the country.
But a plan similar to the Rwanda scheme to process migrants in a third-party country was floated at one stage by Whitehall officials, with negotiations said to have achieved “good recent progress.”
The UK has struck a returns agreement with Baghdad for Iraqi citizens, which was achieved without a formal announcement or acknowledgement and a plea for “discretion,” the documents, seen by Sky News, suggest.
The cache of papers casts new light on the UK government’s approach to dealing with asylum-seekers and illegal migration, including a desire to improve relations with the Iranian Embassy in London in order to ease the repatriation of Iranian citizens, and moves to establish return agreements with Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Biden meets Jordan’s King Abdullah as Gaza ceasefire hopes dim
- Monday’s meeting between two leaders is not a formal bilateral meeting but an informal private meeting
- US president Biden faces increasing pressure politically to convince Israel to hold off on an invasion
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden will meet Middle East ally, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, at the White House on Monday with prospects for a Gaza ceasefire appearing slim and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israeli officials blaming each other for the impasse.
On Sunday, Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to the war in exchange for the freeing of hostages, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly ruled that out. Hamas also attacked the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza that Israel said killed three of its soldiers.
A Jordanian diplomat said Monday’s meeting between Biden and King Abdullah is not a formal bilateral meeting but an informal private meeting. It comes as the Biden administration and Israeli officials remain at odds over Israel’s planned military incursion in Rafah.
Biden last met King Abdullah at the White House in February and the two longtime allies discussed a daunting list of challenges, including a looming Israeli ground offensive in southern Gaza and the threat of a humanitarian calamity among Palestinian civilians. Jordan and other Arab states have been highly critical of Israel’s actions and have been demanding a ceasefire since mid-October as civilian casualties began to skyrocket. The war began after Hamas stunned Israel with a cross-border raid on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and 252 hostages taken, according to Israeli tallies.
Biden last spoke to Netanyahu on April 28 and “reiterated his clear position” on a possible invasion of the Gaza border city of Rafah, the White House said. The US president has been vocal in his demand that Israel not undertake a ground offensive in Rafah without a plan to protect Palestinian civilians.
With pro-Palestinian protests erupting across US college campuses, Biden faces increasing pressure politically to convince Israel to hold off on an invasion. Biden addressed the campus unrest over the war in Gaza last week but said the campus protests had not forced him to reconsider his policies in the Middle East.
