For the entire length of the country’s post-bases bilateral relations with the United States, it has always been a question on whether the Americans will help modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
More importantly, it has always been raised whether various military arrangements had ever been beneficial to the interests of the nation.
To answer these questions, it is necessary to look back to the past, particularly the various unequal agreements between the US and the Philippines, such as the Military Assistance Pact and the Military Bases Agreement, in which the country was made dependent on second-hand military equipment from the US.
The Philippines was never able to develop its own defense sector through a national industrialization program. Instead, AFP’s modernization was dependent on US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and the US Excess Defense Articles program.
These are foreign policy weapons that had kept the Philippines servile and vulnerable to external interference.
In fact, even during the existence of US bases in the country, the AFP did not modernize.
There was also no modernization after more than two decades of the Visiting Forces Agreement and almost ten years of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
The most that the country receives from the US are refurbished equipment and vessels.
In 2011, we received from the US the Hamilton-class cutter later renamed BRP Gregorio del Pilar.
It was first commissioned in 1967, and saw action during the Vietnam War. Reports said that ship was acquired from the U.S. for more than $10 million.
This year, the country received two Cyclone-class patrol ships first used by the US in 1995 and decommissioned in March 2023.
This was done through the Excess Defense Articles Program.
Philippine defense officials said that it is better to have old vessels than no vessels.
On the other hand, the US government continues earning from the sales and servicing of these old ships even after these have been decommissioned. For context, old vessels are typically stripped of their high-tech equipment before being turned over to the Philippines.
Perpetual dependence
The new Bilateral Security Guidelines calls for a Security Sector Assistance Roadmap in which the US will be involved in the Philippines defense budget planning. This is a clear conflict of interest, as the defense vendor itself that is assisting its client to identify the priority defense platforms it supposedly needs.
The BSG retains the previous mode of acquiring defense materiel: Foreign Military Financing, Foreign Military Sales, and Excess Defense Articles.
The BSG mentions no objectives relating to the need for the Philippines to achieve self-reliance in the development of a credible defense posture. It appears that the BSG seeks to keep the country perpetually dependent and unable to stand on its own.
Parallels to Ukraine
At the same time, this situation can be compared to development in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, in which the US and its allies are literally flooding Ukraine with modern and sophisticated weapons, which essentially continues to disturb the peace in the region. Further, economic sanctions against Russia had already caused the biggest food and energy crises in history.
In fact, arms policies implemented by the US in various states negatively impacts its allies’ defense capabilities and sovereignties. Even as its allies had already paid so much to the US to supposedly raise their defense profile, these allies still need to ‘wait in line’ in seeking US military assistance even for urgent military concerns.
This has never been more true in the ongoing South China Sea concerns between the Philippines and China, perhaps because the Philippine remains a mere traditional minor ally of the US.
In contrast, the US has continued to provide deadly weapons and equipment to the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Instead of supporting allies which really need to develop its defense capabilities, its weapons exports to the Ukraine conflict has contributed to the massive loss of lives in the region.
In fact, the ongoing Ukraine conflict has clear parallels with the other regional conflicts supported by the US, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya. Aside from the loss of lives and destruction of cities, it has also created a massive refugee crisis. It will only be a matter of time for the Philippines to also host Ukrainian refugees, similar to recent initiatives to host Afghan refugees after the departure of the Americans.
This is a real concern, particularly because the country currently still needs to deal severely with its widespread poverty levels amid our pandemic recovery initiatives.