Military upgrade gets P35B, or P15B less than Palace target

Armed Forces of the Philippines logo. INQUIRER FILES

The Armed Forces of the Philippines will receive P35 billion this year for its modernization program as continued under the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) signed by President Marcos on Dec. 30.

The approved budget for the revised AFP Modernization Program for 2025 was P15 billion lower than the P50 billion initially proposed by President Marcos to Congress.

Had this proposal been approved, it would have been a record high in terms of annual allocations for the phased upgrade that was initiated in the mid-1990s under the Ramos administration.

READ: Marcos to AFP: Modernization also calls for self-reliance

Last year, the program received a total funding of P40 billion.

Affected projects

During the budget deliberations at the Senate in November last year, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, the sponsor for the defense department’s budget, disclosed that the House of Representatives reduced the P50-billion proposal for the program to P40 billion.

Dela Rosa said the budget cut would affect at least seven projects, mainly those related to cyber systems, forward support equipment, aviation and engineering equipment, aircraft purchase, tactical combat vehicles and radar-basing support systems.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito had also questioned the reduced budget, noting that it had suffered a yearly decrease.

But senators later said the P10-billion cut made by the House was restored later by the Senate.

In the GAA signed by the President last week, however, the final modernization fund stood at P35 billion. —Nestor Corrales