This early, Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda wants the Philippines' national budget for 2024 to have funding for coastal defense.
Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said this would allow "arming our own navy with credible firepower".
The House leader had this to say after it was found out that the Chinese coast guard forcibly taking rocket wreckage from the Philippine Navy, which the latter retrieved in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) on Nov. 20. Footage of the incident was shown to the public this week.
While the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has already filed a diplomatic protest on the matter, Salceda said that “diplomacy alone is not enough” and that “the glove of diplomacy must be backed by lethal punching power".
His remarks notwithstanding, Salceda also clarified that he is “not advocating for conflict with China, or anybody for that matter", and that he merely wants “sustainable peace through good behavior among neighbors".
“Tall, strong fences make good neighbors. We can’t fence the ocean up, but we can surely build a security umbrella above it," he said.
"To have firepower capable of precisely firing at targets in the seas from the Philippine mainlands, as well as a navy and air force that can follow it up, I think will provide that umbrella," he explained.
The Philippines and China have been having maritime territorial disputes for decades.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. signed the P5.268-trillion national budget or General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2023 last Friday. It is still very much a pandemic recovery budget.
Salceda said that observations on the Russia-Ukraine conflict indicate that “while some countries may be military superpowers, cheap but lethal military technology has tilted the balance of military power these days in favor of defenders".
“So we can gain access to a broad range of military capabilities from artillery to unmanned aerial vehicles or drones capable of credibly fighting a superior enemy,” he said.