How The DoF Is Trying to Get Fighter Jets To Beef Up Manila's Defenses

The Department of Finance and the Department of National Defense are working together to procure and to craft financing plans for state-of-the-art and advanced fighter jets to modernize the Philippine military’s capabilities.

The news broke when Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said that Finance Secretary Ralph Recto agreed to craft a creative financing scheme to fund the acquisition of advanced jets and to fast-track the country’s military modernization plans. Teodoro said that the Philippines is weighing the costs of essential weapon systems, spare parts and the maintenance of these fighter jets with radar and air refueling planes.

“We may have to adjust the approved budget for the contract, as costs tend to rise over time,” the Defense secretary said.

Manila has been looking at multi-role combat jets to beef up its existing inventory of air force planes as tensions with China continue to worsen.

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Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez earlier said the government was working with the United States to finance a $5.6 billion contract for 20 F-16 jets.

“The acquisition of multi-role fighting jets are believed to elevate the country’s hard power,” Chester Cabalza, founding president of the security think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, told Esquire Philippines in an interview. “It was purportedly financed and intended to protect our national sovereignty and withstand a deterrence strategy.”

Cabalza added that sophisticated flying assets would secure Philippine airspace and build a culture of resilience amid burgeoning tensions with Manila’s neighbor.

China and the Philippines have been at odds with one another after clashes in the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety. The waterway is a crucial economic route with more than $3 trillion worth of global trade flowing through it.

The Hague-based and United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration had voided China’s claim over the South China Sea and deemed it illegal. Southeast Asian nations such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam also have competing claims over the disputed waterway.

“There should be transparency and accountability in the proposed “creative” financing program to finance purchase of jets for Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization,” Rommel Banlaoi, who is the president of the Philippine Society for International Security Studies (PSISS) and former deputy national security adviser, told Esquire Philippines in a Viber message. “But for me, the top priority of the government should be the modernization of Philippine education, agriculture and infrastructure to address the greatest threats to Philippine human security.”

The DoF earlier said that it is also looking into using Sweden’s export credit system to boost the Philippine defense industry with prospects like the Stockholm defense company Saab AB and their JAS 39 Gripen advanced jets.

These Swedish fighter jets can hold payloads weighing up to 16,500 kilograms and can take off from land measuring 16 meters wide and 500 meters long, based on a description from Saab AB’s website.

Manila’s government has boosted its budget to modernize its military in the next decade at $35 billion, which entail the acquisition of state-of-the-art naval ships, planes and missile systems to counter China’s vast military arm in the region.

“There is no question about the importance of acquiring long-overdue modern fighter aircraft. The country has a vast airspace, including that above its huge exclusive economic zone, which it must secure,” Lucio B. Pitlo III, a research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, told Esquire Philippines in an interview.

What is the Philippine Doing to Beef Up Its Military Might?

These initiatives to enhance Philippine defense are crucial as the country remains as one of the world’s weakest militaries and heavily relies on allies such as the United States for military equipment.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth have underscored Washington’s ironclad defense commitment to Manila amid China’s “dangerous actions in the South China Sea."

Washington is Manila’s major security partner as they are both bound by the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty that compels the countries to defend each other in the event of an armed attack.

Defense and security tie-ups between the Southeast Asian nation and its global allies have flourished under the term of Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. after China and the Philippines’ respective coast guards were involved in several air and sea tussles, accusing each other of fueling tensions and provocation.

Manila has failed to enforce the UN tribunal’s ruling due to Beijing’s expansive and vast military resources.

In April, the US Department of State approved the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets and ammunition worth $5.5 billion to the Philippines. Washington’s advanced multipurpose Typhon missile system had been left in the country during last year’s joint war games or Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) drills.

Marcos said he was willing to withdraw these missiles if China agrees to scale back its aggression in the South China Sea.

The Philippine is on the third phase of its military modernization plan called “Horizons” and has earmarked $35 billion to build up its military prowess to respond to China’s flexing of military might in the region.

AFP Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner expressed that the country was keen on buying more military hardware and to beef up its arsenal, such as more BrahMos missiles form India and at least two submarines.

The government in 2022 procured about $375 million worth of these anti-ship missiles from India and is set to receive more of these weapons in the coming years.

In 2023, 300-year-old Spanish naval design and shipbuilding company Navantia proposed a $1.7 billion contract involving the delivery of two advanced S80 submarines and training Phlippine Navy officials to operate and maintain these vessels.

Filipino and American troops on June 30 carried out a live-fire exercise involving an advanced vehicle-mounted rocket system in central Luzon, which is advanced enough to strike targets precisely and to be rather mobile in battle.

“Under the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept, the country aims to have the capacity to project power into its Exclusive Economic Zone and the airspace above it,” Pitlo said, citing an AFP doctrine. “Hence, the need for long-range multirole fighter jets. However, the financing program is crucial as buying such expensive platforms may take time and impact funding for other priorities,” the security analyst stressed.