Malacañang: We don’t instigate war, but we are prepared

The Philippines is not instigating or provoking war but only wants to be prepared to defend itself against attack, Malacañang said on Wednesday.

Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro made the remarks after Armed Forces of the Philippines chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the military to be able to defend the country for at least 30 days without the aid of allies.

“Kung iyan po ang sinabi ng Pangulo, dapat kayanin,” Castro began, adding that the details of Marcos’ directive are up to Brawner to disclose.

(If that is what the President said, then they must do it.)

Castro then pointed out that the President is very vocal in his views of upholding the country’s sovereignty and territory, while stressing that diplomacy is the way to resolve conflict.

“Hindi po tayo nag-i-instigate, hindi po tayo nagpo-provoke ng war pero lahat ay dinadaan sa diplomasya,” she stressed.

(We are not instigating, we are not provoking war but we are coursing everything through diplomacy.)

“Iyan po ang magandang ginagawa ng Pangulo dahil hindi po natin gusto na masabak tayo sa giyera pero dapat lagi lang po tayong handa,” Castro added.

(That’s the good thing that the President is doing, because he does not want us to be dragged into a war, but we should always be prepared.)

Earlier, Brawner said the military is in currently in possession of FA-50 fighter jets, frigates from South Korea, an air defense system from Japan, and missile systems from India.

However, the AFP chief said these assets are not enough even as he touted the AFP’s current capacity as “world class.”

“We have the capability, kayang-kaya natin i-defend, depensahan ng ating bansa. Pero ang sinasabi ko po, kulang pa, kulang pa. Because if we consider the entire archipelago, ay hindi kaya nung current na kagamitan natin na i-cover yung entire archipelago,” said Brawner.

(We have the capability, we are capable of defending our entire country. But what I’m saying is, it’s still inadequate. Because if we consider the entire archipelago, our assets cannot cover the entire archipelago.)

“In fact, sa ngayon, naka-focus lang tayo dito sa West Philippine Sea, sa northern part ng ating bansa, ay nakita na nga natin na kulang pa ito, kulang pa.”

(In fact, right now, we are only focused here on the West Philippine Sea, in the northern part of our country, and we have seen that it’s still inadequate, it’s not enough.)

Currently, the Philippines has defense agreements with several allies, such as the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. — JMA, GMA Integrated News