Pres. Marcos Approves Purchase of Fighter Jets To Enhance PH Defense
MARCOS – Philippine President Bongbong Marcos agreed to buy Multirole Fighter (MRF) jets for the Philippine defense.
Countries are in constant pursuit to boost their defense as part of securing the national security. In the case of the Philippines, in 2023, the President has expressed that the boosting of the capabilities of the Air Force is also a response to the ongoing territorial dispute with China “which is not cooling down”.
China remains assertive of its claim over the West Philippine Sea. It remains despite the Arbitral Ruling that sided the Philippines. However, the Chinese government visibly did not recognize the Arbitral Ruling and keeps its operation in the disputed island.
China has deployed vessels and Chinese authorities in the area. The ‘Monster Ship’ of China is also recently back in the disputed island. There were several previous reports about the incidents when Filipino authorities deployed in the disputed island were bullied by the Chinese and there were ramming incidents in the West Philippine Sea.
Undeniably, countless Filipinos are currently worried about the real state between the Philippines and China after the recent claim of Senator Imee Marcos that China has preparations against the Philippines. Amid the questions in the security of the country, the President gave his go signal for the purchase of the Multirole Fighter (MRF) jets.
Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. announced about the green signal of Pres. Bongbong Marcos to the purchase of the MRF jets to members of the Defense Press Corps after the 1st semester AFP Command Conference. The event was held at Camp Aguinaldo which was graced by the President himself.
According to Brawner, there is still no final decision on the type of the Multirole Fighter (MRF) jets that will be bought as well as to the number of jets to be purchased. Based on the report, the AFP Chief of Staff stressed that the country needs the MRF jets for defense against its advsersaries.
Brawner further expressed that while the FA-50 jet fighters are great, they are not enough to defend the Philippines so more jetfighters and multi role fighters are needed.
“Yung multirole fighters are actually bigger, faster and more lethal than FA-50 PH that we have,” the AFP Chief of Staff said.