Defense spending an ‘investment,’ PH Navy official says

SAN NARCISO, Zambales – A ranking Philippine Navy (PN) official said Filipinos should look at defense and security spending as an "investment" and not as an "expense."

“We have to look at defense and security, not as an expense but as an investment, and you never stop investing for the defense and security of the country," PN spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, said on the sidelines of the National Security Cluster Communications of the "Bagong Pilipinas" Media Engagement and Workshop held at the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy here Thursday.

“Filipinos must remove from their minds that defense is a costly thing as this is a cost that we would bear. It's an investment for national security."

When asked when the ongoing modernization efforts of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will be completed, Trinidad noted that once the AFP attains a credible defense posture, this still needs to be assessed to determine if this is “sufficient for the country's security needs.”

"Meaning to say, when we get to a point that we (attain) credible defense, we will again do an assessment of this environment," he said.

Among the topics discussed in the workshop is the AFP Modernization Rehorizon 3, which will focus on the acquisition of skills and know-how in cyber defense, air interdiction, surface and sub-surface systems, missile defense, and support systems capabilities.

These acquisitions are seen to help make the AFP more credible in defending against external threats.

CADC to protect PH 'islands, features'

Also presented during the workshop is the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC) now being operationalized by the AFP.

The key task of the CADC is to “secure and protect island territories and features” through the establishment of adequate and capable operational and operational support facilities, such as command and control facilities, billeting areas, and seaport and airport facilities.

Another task of the CADC is to “sustain operational requirements of island territories and features" by ensuring that adequate logistic needs, such as petroleum, oil and lubricants, water, food, and ammunition, are met.

The CADC capability partitions, consisting of cyber systems, subsystems and support systems, air interdiction, surface and subsurface systems, and missile and counter-missile systems, have a planned budget of PHP1.89 trillion over 10 years. (PNA)