Timely arrival
EVEN without the West Philippine Sea problem, there’s enough reason to ask the government to pursue its military modernization program.
We need to acquire more ships, aircraft and state-of-the-art military equipment, to be able to patrol and protect the country’s more than 7,000 islands and islets.
Admittedly, some of these islands are being used by foreign and local traders to sneak into the country smuggled goods, like cigarettes and illegal drugs.
And note that many smugglers, who are filthy rich and highly-influential, use faster vessels, enabling them to escape from pursuing law enforcers.
The situation is not helped any by the lack of financial resources to speed up the implementation of the military modernization program.
Thus, it is certainly heartening to know that the Philippines will “soon” take delivery of its first BrahMos supersonic cruise missles from India.
No less than the Indian Ambassador to the Philippines, Shambhu Kumaran, announced the “good news” last week.
The envoy was quoted as saying: “We’re working toward the earliest possible arrival. I don’t have a timeline at this moment, but it’s gonna soon.”
Reports said the BrahMos are the world’s fastest supersonic missiles.
It will be recalled that the Philippines signed an P18.9-billion deal with BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd in January 2022 for three batteries of the cruise missiles.
Then Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the missiles “will provide deterrence against any attempt to undermine our sovereignty and sovereign rights.”
A member of Class 1973 of the elite Philippine Military Academy (PMA), Lorenzana made the statement during the contract signing.
