Gazmin: Ship from S. Korea not in exchange for supply contract

From GMA News (Jun 4): Gazmin: Ship from S. Korea not in exchange for supply contract

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin denied that a transport ship to be donated by South Korea to the Philippines is in exchange for a P18.5-billion supply contract the latter inked with a Korean company for 12 FA-50 fighter jets.

“It's not true that it was given to us because we bought aircraft. That’s not true,” he said.

Gazmin said that discussions about the donation were held even before the signing of the contract for the supply of the 12 jets to the Philippine Air Force with Korean Aerospace Industries in Camp Aguinaldo last March 28.

Gazmin said South Korea will be donating a Landing Craft Utility for the use of the Philippine Navy, 16 rubber boats, and 200 computers.

Asked when the LCU will arrive, the Defense Secretary said: “We are following a process…We are following a protocol where an authorization is needed from the Americans to transfer this to us. That’s easy. Within the year maybe, it will come out.”

US technology was used in building the LCU, so a US authorization is needed to transfer it to another user-country.

Meanwhile, hundreds of South Korean forces helping in the rehabilitation of Leyte, one of the areas devastated by super typhoon Yolanda last November, will be replaced by a similar number of personnel later this month.

“A new contingent will replace the present contingent. It's returning [to South Korea] and a new group will arrive. They’re going to have a turnover,” Gazmin said. He did not say when the rotation will take place.

AFP Central Command spokesman Lt. Jim Alagao said the first batch of the new contingent will arrive on June 23 while the second batch will arrive a week later.

Gazmin said about 254 South Korean troops are helping in the rehabilitation of Leyte, particularly in Tanauan and Palo towns. Including the crew of their ship, the total rises to 544.

The South Korean contingent arrived last December and will stay for one year.

Gazmin, the concurrent chairman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said he is going to Leyte on June 10 to give awards to the South Korean personnel involved in rehabilitation efforts.

The NDRRMC said the death toll due to Yolanda, the strongest typhoon to make landfall, reached at least 6,300 by April, or six months after it hit the central part of the Philippines.

Countries and organizations around the world pitched in to help in the relief and rehabilitation efforts for Yolanda victims.

Based on the Foreign Aid Transparency Hub (FaiTH) website, the total foreign aid pledged to the Philippines amounted to P34 billion, but only P14.9 billion has been received by the government.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/364200/news/nation/gazmin-ship-from-s-korea-not-in-exchange-for-supply-contract