CEBU CITY –Senator Imee Marcos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, is pushing for the revival of the country’s self-reliant defense program as counterbalance to foreign military dependence after she had consultations with the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga Sibugay over the weekend.
Marcos’ initiative comes as the Philippine
government prepares four new sites for U.S. military access in the country and
an agreement for stronger defense cooperation with Japan.
She said that the Self-Reliant Defense Posture (SRDP) program initiated in 1974 by her father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., must be revived to “scale down our dependence on foreign goodwill in the sticky web of geopolitics.”
“Thailand now customizes rifles that are slimmer and lighter for its soldiers, while Vietnam can now manufacture anti-surface warfare missiles. How far have we gone?” Marcos asked.
Marcos recalled that in the 70’s to early 80's, the country’s SRDP was already producing M-16 rifles under license, steel helmets, hand grenades and other ammunition, handheld radios, Jiffy jeeps. It also created jobs and minimized foreign spending.
She explained that Filipino manufacturers used local materials besides the imported parts from which technological know-how was gained, with the National Science Development Board supporting research and development.
“There’s no question about Filipino capability,
but we must revive the SRDP now,” Marcos emphasized. (Photos: Sen. Marcos Office)
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