The Department of National Defense (DND) on Tuesday denied
reports that realignment took place in its shore-based missile system (SBMS)
project which has a budget of Php6.5 billion.
"The SBMS project is merely a proposal at this time,
and as such, there is no 'realignment' but rather a re-prioritization of the
said project in favor of the urgent need of our PA (Philippine Army) troops for
individual force protection equipment," DND public affairs office chief
Arsenio Andolong said.
He added that the re-prioritization was a collective
decision by Defense senior leaders, which was submitted to the President after
going through the required processes in the Defense System of Management
(DSOM), which took into consideration the dynamics of the country’s ever developing
security environment.
"We reiterate that Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin
will never be a party to nor condone graft and corruption in the AFP
Modernization Program as insinuated in the report," Andolong pointed out.
Earlier, PA spokesperson Lt. Col. Noel Detoyato said that
the SBMS project was not removed from the lists of weapons to be acquired under
the revised Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) modernization program but
merely rescheduled.
The first phase of the program was scheduled for 2013 to
2017.
"It was not scrapped but moved to the second
horizon," Detoyato said.
It means that the project will be implemented in 2018 to
2022.
While third phase of the AFP modernization is slated for
2023 to 2028.
And in the meantime, force protection equipment, squad
designated rifles and modern radios as these equipment are urgently needed by
ground forces operating down south.
Detoyato added the SBMS would be acquired to beef up the
external defense capabilities of the PA and not aimed at any particular nation.
He also stressed that all equipment acquired under the
modernization program were above board and undergone the legal procurement
process.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=780199
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