Philippines to buy submarines in bid to defend claims in South China Sea

PHILIPPINE President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has approved the third phase of the military’s modernization, which includes the purchase of the country’s first submarine to defend its maritime sovereignty in the South China Sea.

The third phase of modernization reflected a shift in strategy away from internal to external defense, Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Roy Trinidad said on Thursday. “We may not be a large navy... but we would have a navy that will take care of our territorial rights and sovereignty.”

The third phase of the modernization plan, which was revised to make it more attuned to the country’s needs, is estimated to cost 2 trillion pesos ($35.62 billion) and will be implemented over several years, Mr. Trinidad said.

The announcement comes at a time of growing tensions with China over sea disputes in the South China Sea. Manila refers to that part of the South China Sea within its exclusive economic zone as the West Philippine Sea.

Mr. Trinidad could not immediately say how many submarines the Philippines intends to buy, but he said “definitely more than one.”

France, Spain, Korea and Italy have shown interest in supplying the Philippines with submarines, he added.

Southeast Asian neighbors like Indonesia and Vietnam already have submarine programs.

While the first and second phases of the military’s modernization plan were “land-centric,” the third phase will seek, among others, to boost military capabilities in the South China Sea, Mr. Trinidad said.

Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. last month said acquisitions under the third phase would focus on an array of capabilities ranging from domain awareness, intelligence and deterrence capabilities in maritime and aerial space.

Beijing and Manila have traded sharp accusations in recent months over a succession of run-ins in the South China Sea, where each has overlapping sovereignty claims, including charges that China in December rammed a ship carrying the Philippine Armed Forces chief of staff.

China claims most of the South China Sea, parts of which are also claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan,

Vietnam and Indonesia. An international tribunal in 2016 voided China’s claim, which Beijing has rejected.

Also on Thursday, political analysts said China is benefitting from the worsening rift between Mr. Marcos his predecessor Rodrigo R. Duterte, who has proposed to separate Mindanao island from the Philippines.

“Duterte’s rambles are mostly far from plausible,” Joshua Bernard B. Espeña, who teaches international relations at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, said in a Facebook Messenger chat on Thursday. “But his persona and rhetoric represent danger against a united Filipino resolve needed against China’s classical divide-and-conquer playbook to secure the first island chain.”

“China needs this domestic political rift more than ever since the Philippines now integrates the Taiwan Strait and West Philippine Sea frontiers as a singular theater of operations for strategic calculus,” he added.

‘NOISES OF TREASON’

Mr. Duterte said there’s now a “regrouping of the political arena” that would lead to the campaign for an independent Mindanao,

which he said can stand on its own considering its natural resources.

“It is not a rebellion, not a bloody one,” he said. “We will follow the process provided by the United Nations to gather signatures, verify these under oath and with the presence of other (witnesses), signify that the people want to separate.”

While not plausible, a separate Mindanao could create serious security compromises for Manila, Mr. Espeña said, adding that it would force the Philippine military to revert to internal security operations and weaken external defense efforts.

“Such is politically consequential and logistically unsustainable. The Philippines cannot fight two enemies from two frontiers,” he said. “Moreover, radical extremism inspired by the Islamic State is just around the corner to exploit any political vulnerabilities.” — Kyle

Aristophere T. Atienza with Reuters