Manila: The Philippines is planning a 25 percent hike in its defence budget next year, mainly to bolster its claims in the disputed South China Sea, officials said yesterday.
The proposed 2016 national budget, which President Benigno Aquino is to present to parliament for approval on last Monday, would reserve a record 25bn pesos ($552m) for defence spending.
“We need to protect what is clearly within our territorial jurisdiction,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said. “Certainly, we need to at least be able to effectively monitor the developments in the area, particularly those in disputed zones,” he added.
The proposed 2016 defence budget is part of a five-year, 75bn peso military modernisation programme approved by Aquino in 2013, Abad said.
The amount would still be dwarfed by China, which claims most of the South China Sea including areas close to the shores of its Asian neighbours. Beijing budgeted $142.9bn for its military this year.
One of the region’s most poorly equipped, the Philippine military relies on half-century old ships and aircraft keeping watch over the South China Sea, where tensions have flared recently.
The Philippine military’s mission to protect the country’s territory is complicated by long-running communist and Muslim insurgencies that forces it to devote troops and equipment for internal security.
While China has gone on an island-building frenzy to reinforce its claims on South China Sea reefs and waters, the Philippines has set repairs on a crumbling World War II ship that serves as its lonely outpost there.
The South China Sea chain is also disputed in whole or in part by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.AFP
