Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB)
CAVITE CITY, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is “warm to the idea” of purchasing submarines for the country, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Monday.
Zubiri, however, noted that the President “has a lot on his hands” as he tries to balance his “meager” budget.
“The President is warm to the idea, but of course the President has a lot on his hands,” Zubiri said in a chance interview at the Naval Station Pascual Ledesma.
Zubiri graced the christening ceremony of the Philippine Navy’s two fast attack interdiction craft platforms BRP Gener Tinangag and BRP Domingo Deluana.
The senator also said the President is also considering how he could utilize the country’s coffers wisely.
“He is also the concurrent secretary of agriculture, he knows there’s a lot of difficulties in the agriculture sector, and he’s trying to balance his meager budget of five trillion pesos on how to use it wisely.
“But he’s warm to the idea, because when we mentioned it to him, he said, ’Yes, let’s continue further discussion’,” he added.
Zubiri, who said that the country could allot P70 to P100 billion for the purchase of submarines, also noted that some countries are offering a long-term loan of twenty years.
“Actually the budget is between 70 to 100 billion [pesos] but the government offering us submarines is giving us a long-term loan of 20 years.
“Maliit lang po ang downpayment, at ang taon-taon I think ay manageable. [The downpayment is small and the yearly payment I think is manageable]. I think about less than four billion pesos a year,” he said.
Zubiri did not mention which country offered the said payment scheme.
France’s Ambassador to the Philippines Michèle Boccoz earlier confirmed that Paris is in an “ongoing discussion” with the Marcos administration about the potential purchase of its first-ever submarine.
The Philippine Navy had also started to send personnel in France for training ahead of the procurement of the submarines.
The Philippines is an archipelago with one of the world’s longest coastlines and territorial disputes with its neighbors. But it has been left behind in the submarine race with its neighbors in Southeast Asia.
Currently, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore already have submarines.