- President Aquino admitted the government is studying the possibility of forming a submarine force
- Aquino said China’s growing assertiveness in the West Philippine Sea has left the country with no choice but to consider policies that would address the issue
- However, the president reiterated the economy remains the priority of his policies
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government is weighing on a plan to build a submarine force to fortify its territorial defense amid China’s growing aggression in the West Philippine Sea. This was revealed in a forum at the Manila Hotel by President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday, March 30.
Speaking before a group of foreign journalist at the Publish Asia Conference, Aquino said China’s assertion of might and rapid militarization of its occupied island in the disputed territory left the Philippines with no choice but to reconsider its policies, such as investing resources to its maritime domain awareness.
“We’ve had to accelerate the modernization of our armed forces for self-defense need,” Aquino said. “We might have to undergo various aspects of our own military capabilities that have never been part of our needs.”
The president added: “For instance, we are a natural transit point into the Pacific, and we are studying whether or not we do need a submarine force.”
However, Aquino maintains the Philippines would like to maintain its stand as an advocate of peace and would continue to seek peaceful resolution to the raging territorial dispute.
Aquino stressed it’s not only the Philippines, but also the rest of the nation-claimants in the region, which recognizes that nobody stands to gain in war, and in fact, the world stands to lose if it goes to war.
“The Philippines, for instance, renounces war as an instrument of foreign policy. That is embedded in our Constitution,” he pointed out.
The country has never had a submarine force in the past and largely rely on hand-me-down equipment from the United States and its other allies in the region like Japan and Australia.
Nevertheless, the country, despite its meager resources, managed to slowly build up its defense assets over the past five years, a feat that has never been achieved in past administrations.
However, Aquino emphasized the need for a poor country like the Philippines to set its priorities straight.
“We have no illusions of trying to match or trying to engage everybody in an arms race or a military build-up,” the President added. “We would rather put our resources to the classical economic argument of the butter side than the gun side of choosing where to put our resources in.”
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