What happened to the BCDA? The AFP only have 31.5% of the total proceeds from selling the military bases. And what happened in return? The Navy has no more base of its own, it is already squatting from Fort Bonifacio, and even, hopefully not, in Fort San Antonio Abad (now Naval Station Jose Andrada).
The Philippine Navy has recently acquired small but very fast combat boats known as MPACs or Multi-purpose Attack Craft at about 73M each. Big ships will cost billions in acquisition and millions in maintenance. It can run to as fast as 45knots (45 miles per hour). It can reach top speed in less than five seconds, and it can also stop in similar duration. It can turn at stationary position (imagine a harrier aircraft rotating on air). It is used by the Navy in the southern Philippines for interdiction and interception, while one is used in Palawan to protect the government's sensitive project there.
The thrust of the current Navy administration is to purchase new though small but lethal ships.
It is also in the process of acquiring a multi-role vessel which accommodates marines, LCU/LCAC, choppers and amphibian crafts. Our acquisition is based on the need of the country.
Another effort is to acquire a strategic sealift vessel on a lease-to-own scheme through the initiative of the Philippine Navy's civilian board of advisers. These are dedicated Filipino citizens coming from different sectors of the society devoting a portion of their precious time in recommending and sitting with the Philippine Navy as to what they can suggest and do. I hope when this group of people comes up with a foundation intended to purchase modern vessels, you will be among those who will contribute.
The most that you can do to help today is to urge our legislators either through the internet or through other means to prioritize the full and actual implementation of the AFP/NAVY modernization by releasing/allocating the appropriate budget. We Filipinos will only release those budget when the need already happened. Look at Ondoy, the Navy has been asking always for more rubber boats but a modernization program process takes at least more than 1 year and six months if you are lucky. That's Philippine government bureaucracy. But with Ondoy, the DND is urged to buy those rubber boats AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.
In short, we have to wait when China, Vietnam, Malaysia, North Korea or other neighboring Asian countries to invade one of our Kalayaan Islands before the legislators will scamper to look for someone to investigate and to blame. Have they ever blamed themselves? And when that happens, that is the time that they will say let us buy missiles for our ships now. let us buy torpedos for our choppers now. I really that invasion will soon come, so that we will be forced to really modernize our navy/AFP. Unless the LAWMAKERS/EXECUTIVES don't feel the pressure to buy new ships, we will never be modernize as fast as we can. The navy will continue to pass through the very very very very taxing process of making every document pass... the very bullying question of why do you need that? "how many school buildings or books will be lost if we buy those ships. How many mouths will not be fed if we buy your toys?" Now what?
