The Department of National Defense (DND) has decided to prioritize the acquisition of submarines, pushing forward plans to equip the Philippine Navy with the vessels before the year 2022 at the earliest.
Arsenio Andolong, spokesperson for the DND, said initial plans had called for the acquisition of at least four submarines.
But getting the vessels depends on the Department of Budget and Management and the DND, which will discuss how to apportion the P288.8 billion earmarked for the second horizon of the Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program, he said.
“The acquisition of submarines was pushed forward. How this will come to be, that’s what we are looking into,” said Andolong, who spoke on the sidelines of the launch of the implementing rules and regulations of the Red Cross and Other Emblems Act in Quezon City on Wednesday.
Submarines were previously included in the third horizon of the modernization program from 2023 to 2027.
Other priority acquisitions are multirole jet fighters for the Air Force and frigates or corvettes for the Navy. —Jeanette I. Andrade