InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
(This is the conclusion of three-part series. Read Part 1 here.)
MANILA, Philippines – With practically zero air defense capability, unauthorized foreign aircraft and ships intruding into Philippine airspace and exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are left unchecked, so much that for the first quarter of 2012 alone, there were 26 intrusions, according to records of the Philippine Air Force (PAF).
This is does not even count the intrusion by Chinese vessels at the Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) which has resulted in a standoff between Manila and Beijing that hogged news headlines around the world for several weeks now.
The Philippines is the second largest archipelagic country in the world with 7,107 islands and a coastline of 35,289 kilometers, twice as long as that of the United States.
With no jetfighter left in the arsenal of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) since 2005, there is no way the Air Force can intercept any foreign aircraft intruding into Philippine airspace.
The Philippines' limited radar capability adds to its security problem.
The once mighty Philippine Navy (PN) is also suffering an acute shortage of ships.
As a consequence, border crossing violations in southern Philippines remain rampant. “It is common knowledge that foreign vessels are barely challenged coming in and out of our EEZ,” said Col. Raul L. del Rosario, wing commander of the Air Defense Wing based in Pampanga, in a paper presentation at the recently-concluded Air Power Symposium at SMX Amphitheater in Pasay City.
“Based on statistics from the Department of Energy, we are losing P7.1 billion per year through poaching, P19.4 billion per year from destruction of the corals and illegal fishing a staggering P26.5 billion per year,” del Rosario said.
“Worse is the development situation in the West Philippine Sea and Scarborough Shoal where our resources and sovereignty as a nation are threatened,” he said.
Another area of contention is the Spratly islands or the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG), where an enormous amount of untapped hydrocarbon deposits are found, estimated at US$ 26.3 trillion and 16.7 billion cubic feet of gas worth US$ 46 billion.
Aside from the Philippines, Spratly islands are also claimed in whole or in part by China, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.
With the Philippines lagging far behind in defense modernization, there is a need for the PAF to jump-start its air defense system.
“We start with a vision of a credible air power. We capitalize on the support of President Aquino and fast-track the project within his term (June 30, 2016).
Considering the billions of pesos needed to modernize the AFP, it is easier said than done but “ultimately, at the end of the day, all this efforts will go to waste without the support of all stakeholders, particularly the executive and legislative body.
The big challenge is rebuilding the much needed air power capability of the PAF now, not later to regain its glorious days of old truly as the country’s first line of defense that can be depended upon.
(This is the conclusion of three-part series. Read Part 1 here.)
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