PH to benefit from planned US ammunition factory - envoy

Metro Manila, Philippines - The Philippines stands to gain economically and defensively from a proposed US-funded ammunition production facility in the country, according to Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez.

Speaking at a briefing in Washington on July 21, Romualdez confirmed that the US Congress has approved the production of ammunition in the Philippines as part of its recently passed National Defense Authorization Act.

“The first step that was taken was that the US Congress has approved the production of ammunition in the Philippines. Obviously, we're open to that one because it's a good way of being able to have a combination of both defense and economic cooperation between the Philippines and the United States,” Romualdez said.

He added that such a facility would create jobs and serve as a strategic hub for regional security needs.

“Setting up a production facility in the Philippines would obviously be beneficial for us economically also because it will create jobs and... be a good hub for them to be able to produce what is required for our defense,” Romualdez explained. “These are talks that we're pursuing together with our economic team.”

The US House appropriations committee earlier directed its Department of Defense, the State Department, and the International Development Finance Corp. to study the feasibility of a joint ammunition manufacturing and storage hub at the former US naval base in Subic Bay. The move is part of efforts to address the “lack of a forward-staged ammunition manufacturing facility” in the Indo-Pacific.

While no formal talks have begun, Romualdez confirmed preparations are underway in anticipation of developments.

“We are still in the process of seeing what this new bill that was included in the US Congress National Defense Act [entails]. But we're preparing for it. We have a number of companies in the Philippines that are interested in joining that potential,” he said.