Ang daming nasayang na pera ng bansa na nakurakot ng mga pulitiko, sana naging budget na lang for new military hardware ng AFP.
MANILA, Philippines -
Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio called on the government Thursday to use next year's pork barrel to buy warships to help deter China’s intrusion into Philippine-claimed territories in the West Philippine Sea.Speaking to reporters after a speech before the Philippine Bar Association in Makati, Carpio said the Philippines has enough funds to buy weapons for self-defense but lacks the political will to do so.
“We have to admit that as a nation we have neglected to maintain a credible defense force, particularly our naval assets, despite us being an archipelagic country with an extensive coastline and a vast exclusive economic zone,†he said.
“We are paying dearly for this neglect – we lost Mischief Reef in 1995, Scarborough Shoal in 2012 and more likely Ayungin Shoal in the near future.
“To maintain a sovereign and independent nation, to maintain our territorial integrity, to avoid further humiliation, to maintain our self respect as a nation, we must build and maintain a credible defense force.
“There is simply no alternative to this.
No nation can remain independent and sovereign for long without a credible defense force. We have the money but we don’t have the political will.â€
Carpio said the government was able to buy the BRP Ramon Alcaraz for P650 million, had it refurbished and equipped with ship-to-ship missiles.
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If we use the proposed P27-billion pork barrel fund for 2014 to acquire warships, the Philippines can buy 41 BRP Ramon Alcaraz types of warships,†he said.
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41 harpoon firing ships are more than enough to keep intruders out of our maritime zones in the West Philippine sea – that is, if we have the political will.â€
Carpio said if the pork barrel is discontinued, government still has enough funds from the Malampaya gas fields off Palawan to cover its defense expenses.
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We can use just seven months of our income in Malampaya worth P26 billion – based on the P46 billion income in 2011 – so that we can acquire 41 BRP Ramon Alcarazes,†he said.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/08/29/13/use-pork-buy-warships