Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 14) — The Philippines maintained it is no longer interested in accepting military equipment donations from the United States, which are usually only functional for a few years, Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez said.
“We’ve already made a decision and that was started by President (Rodrigo) Duterte that we will no longer be interested in getting what we call excess defense articles,” he told CNN Philippines’ The Source on Friday.
It was in 2017 when Duterte said the government will no longer accept second-hand equipment from the United States and will only purchase new ones.
Officials from the Philippines and the United States recently held a meeting in Washington to discuss areas of deeper cooperation, like defense.
One of the commitments made was the implementation of a Security Sector Assistance Roadmap that will guide shared defense modernization investments and inform the delivery of priority platforms over the next 5 to 10 years.
Romualdez emphasized that the US will only provide access to the Philippines to purchase its new military equipment.
One of those in the list are new Black Hawk helicopters to replace the old Huey choppers, since the latter have recorded a number of accidents that killed some members of the military.
The Philippines also wants attack helicopters from Turkey, heavy lift helicopters, as well as water assets like coast guard cutters, Romualdez noted.
To ensure that the government will be able to purchase all the needed equipment, Romualdez said lawmakers should allocate a portion of the annual budget for this program.
