Philippines, United Kingdom explore defense ties

From the Business World (Jan 18): Philippines, United Kingdom explore defense ties

THE PHILIPPINES and the United Kingdom are seeking to forge a new defense agreement this year.

British Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad said both countries are currently exchanging draft agreements following high-level talks last year.

“It’s actually being redone now. We actually have an existing one but by the end of this calendar year we want to establish a new one,” Mr. Ahmad said.

Mr. Ahmad said the agreement will touch on the interoperability of Philippine and British troops when it comes to disaster response and recovery, as well as protocols governing British troops when in Philippine soil.

“Treat it more like an umbrella under which we can do many, many things. But at least there’s permission within that. It’s not as complicated as the one with the US,” he said.

Mr. Ahmad also said the UK is not ruling out the possibility of a strategic partnership.

“I don’t rule that out. But right now, it would be wrong for me to say that’s next on the horizon because we are at all sorts of stretches of commitment. But there are lot of military exchanges today,” he said.

Meanwhile, the government will install a P50-million surveillance equipment to monitor the airspace of the disputed Pag-asa Island in Palawan province, in a bid to protect commercial planes flying above it amid a long-standing maritime dispute with China.

“On Jan. 7, 40 miles away from Rancudo airstrip, an alleged Chinese navy [ship] said ‘Foreign military aircraft, this is the Chinese Navy. You are threatening the security of our station!,” Rodante S. Joya, officer-in-charge of the Office of the Deputy Director-General for Operation, told a media briefing yesterday at the agency’s Pasay City headquarters.

“This was relayed to our pilot and he ignored this message knowing he is traveling inside Philippine territory.”

The remote Pag-asa Island is situated in the Kalayaan Group of Islands in the West Philippine Sea, an area that several countries are claiming as part of their territory.

The P50-million Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) equipment will be installed at Rancudo Airfield, Municipality of Kalayaan and will cover 150 to 200 nautical miles.

The plan is awaiting clearance from the Foreign Affairs department, and installation will take three to six months.

Mr. Joya said the West Philippine Sea airspace is one of “busiest” in the country. Around 200 commercial flights fly above it every day, carrying a total of 400,000 passengers.

The international community calls the Philippine airspace a “black hole” because of the absence of a system that allows pilots to communicate with local air traffic controllers once they enter Philippine territory.

“Nakakatakot din na lumilipad ka sa gitna ng dagat at wala kang makausap (It is scary to fly in the middle of the ocean without anyone to communicate with),” Mr. Joya said.

At present, the country can only monitor a third of its 3-million-square-kilometer airspace.

By November, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines will replace its three existing radars with 10 new ones through its P13-billion Communications, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) system.

Once the installation of the ADS-B and CNS/ATM is complete, Manila will increase its surveillance coverage to around 80% to 90% of its entire airspace, Mr. Joya said.

The monitoring systems can also locate an aircraft that encounters an accident.

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=philippines-united-kingdom-explore-defense-ties&id=121683