Palace Spokesperson Harry Roque’s claim that “only” President Rodrigo Duterte has given the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) two brand new frigates as part of the military’s modernization program needs context.
STATEMENT
On June 8, opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros echoed in a statement the proposal of political science professor Clarita Carlos, who once served as president of the state-run National Defense College of the Philippines, to restructure the AFP and boost the country’s maritime defense against incursions into its territorial waters.
Asked if Duterte is looking into Carlos’ proposal, Roque said in a press briefing that same day:
“Sa totoo lang po, matagal na po iyang in-implement ng ating Presidente. Siya lang po ang nagpasok ng dalawang modernong frigates galing po sa South Korea, at patuloy po ang kaniyang ninanais na tuluyang ma-modernize ang ating Hukbong Sandatahan dahil talaga namang hindi madidepensahan ang national teritoryo kung wala tayong kakayahan na dipensahan iyan.”
(In truth, the president has long implemented it. He is the only one who brought [into the country] two modern frigates from South Korea, and he wants to carry on with the modernization of the armed forces because we cannot defend our national territory if we do not have the capacity to defend it.)
Source: People’s Television, Press Briefing of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, June 8, 2021, watch from 43:45 to 44:01 (transcript)
Roque further said the president will pursue the AFP modernization until his term ends, “with or without COVID (coronavirus disease 2019).”
FACT
Although the two new missile-capable frigates of the Philippine Navy were delivered during the Duterte administration, government announcements and media reports show that the acquisition was initiated in 2013, during the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III.
The bidding process for the frigates started in October 2013 with an P18-billion budget under the Philippine Navy’s Frigate Acquisition Project (FAP).
The FAP is a “big ticket” item in the military’s extended 15-year modernization program, which began in 2013, to boost the country’s territorial defense capability.
In October 2015, the Department of National Defense (DND) amended the acquisition documents by splitting the contract: the frigates for P16 billion and the munitions for P2 billion, from different suppliers. The bidding, however, was not finalized before Aquino’s term ended on June 30, 2016.
Under the Duterte administration in October 2016, then newly-appointed Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana awarded the contract to build two 2,600-ton frigates to the South Korean warship manufacturer Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).
However, Ernesto Boac, former head of DND’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), revealed in a 2018 Senate hearing that the bidding process was finalized upon the recommendation in the second week of June 2016 by then Defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin for the issuance of a notice of award to the winning bidder, which turned out to be the HHI.
Gazmin, who was present in the same hearing, said he was advised to defer “issuing awards or executing contracts” and allow the then incoming Duterte administration to decide on the contract.
The Senate hearing was prompted by several media reports that Duterte’s former aide-turned-senator Christopher “Bong” Go was meddling in the selection of the combat management system (CMS), or the frigates’ computer and software that integrates all of a ship’s weapons, data, sensors and other equipment into a single system.
HHI delivered the two frigates to the Navy in separate batches. The first frigate, named Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas (BRP) Jose Rizal, arrived in May 2020, while the second, named BRP Antonio Luna, was delivered last Feb. 5.
According to the DND, the two frigates are the “first ever” warships of the Navy that are capable of conducting “anti-air warfare (AAW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and electronic warfare (EW) operations.”
Sources
Senate of the Philippines, Press Release – Hontiveros to DND: Study proposal seeking to restructure AFP with more maritime forces, June 8, 2021
National Defense College of the Philippines, Past Presidents, Accessed June 14, 2021
People’s Television, Press Briefing of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, June 8, 2021
Initiation of frigates procurement
- Department of National Defense, Philippine Navy’s first ever state-of-the-art frigate launched in South Korea, May 24, 2019
- Inquirer.net, A timeline: Philippine Navy rides waves of frigates deal, May 24, 2020
- Presidential Communications Operations Office, President Aquino attends 118th anniversary of the Philippine Navy, June 1, 2016
- Philippine News Agency, Navy frigate deal: What we need to know, Feb. 18, 2018
Start of procurement process
- Philstar.com, DND opens bidding for new P18-B warships, Oct. 3, 2013
- ABS-CBN News, DND starts bidding for two new frigates, Oct. 3, 2013
- Inquirer.net, DND opens bidding for 2 frigates, Oct. 2, 2013
Philippine Navy, Rough Deck Log, May 2019
Department of National Defense, Annual Report 2019, 2019
Official Gazette, Republic Act No. 10349
Presidential Communications Operations Office, President Duterte vows for continuous AFP modernization, July 2, 2019
Philippine Navy, Rough Deck Log, June 2019
Senate of the CA approves appointment of Medialdea and Lorenzana, Oct. 19, 2016
Department of National Defense, Defense_Chronicle_Volume_3_Issue_3, 2019
Hyundai Heavy Industries, Sitemap, Oct. 24, 2016
ABS-CBN News, WATCH: Senate investigates Navy frigate deal, Feb. 18, 2018
Go on frigates deal hearing
- Rappler.com, Bong Go intervenes in P15.5-B project to acquire PH warships, Jan. 16, 2018
- Inquirer.net, Inquirer issues statement on Bong Go’s allegation of fake news, Feb. 19. 2018
- GMA News Online, Letters show Bong Go role in Navy’s frigate purchase —Alejano, Jan. 18, 2018
Lockheed Martin, The Brains of a ship, Accessed June 18, 2021
Philippine Navy, Rough Deck Log, July 2020
Philippine Navy, Navy welcomes future BRP Antonio Luna as it reaches Philippine waters, Feb. 9, 2021
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
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