Binigyang-diin ni U.S. President Donald Trump ang kahalagahan ng planong pagtatayo ng joint ammunition manufacturing facility sa Subic Bay, Zambales para sa higit na pagpapalakas sa parehong kakayahan at kahandaan ng mga militar ng Pilipinas at Estados Unidos.
“It’s very important. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have approved it,” saad ni President Trump sa isang press conference sa White House.
“We need ammunition. We’re going to end up in a few months, we’ll have more ammunition than any country has ever had… missiles, the speedy ones, the slow ones, the accurate ones — we have everything,” dagdag niya.
Nilinaw ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. na bahagi ang nasabing ammunition production initiative sa Self-Reliant Defense Posture (SRDP) ng bansa na layong palakasin at patatagin ang kapasidad nito pagdating sa depensa.
“This is actually (the US) assisting the Philippines in what we call our self-reliance defense program, which is to allow us to be self-reliant and to be able to stand on our own two feet, whatever the circumstances that occur in the future,” paliwanag ni Pangulong Marcos Jr.
Sa isyu naman ng posibleng pagho-host ng Pilipinas sa mas maraming missile system ng Estados Unidos, sinabi ng Pangulo na tugon lamang sa nagbabagong ‘security environment’ ang anumang gagawing military modernization effort ng bansa.
“We would certainly like any kind of military spending — we would wish that it wasn’t necessary, but it is,” ani Pangulo.
Ang joint ammunition manufacturing facility project ay bahagi ng mas pinalawak na US-Philippines defense cooperation agenda sa ilalim ng Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). – VC
