THE Senate on Monday ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the proposed Self Reliant Defense Posture Act to bolster the Philippines’ military capabilities and territorial defense.
The senators adopted the bicameral report on the disagreeing provisions of Senate Bill (SB) 2455 and House Bill 9713 or the proposed Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization (SRDP) Act, which aims to establish a “strong” defense industry in the country.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, sponsor of SB 2455, said the measure aims “to revive the SRDP program which was implemented during the 1970s, and envisioned domestic manufacturing and local sourcing of weapons, ammunition, equipment and related defense materiel.”
“We merged key provisions from both versions to craft an enhanced set of guidelines with respect to rationalizing defense acquisition while ensuring preferential terms for local players and only turning to foreign suppliers when the needed materiel cannot be produced domestically,” said Estrada, chairman of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security.
Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, principal author of SB 2455, said that developing a robust and strong local defense industry “will strengthen the country’s defense posture tenfold and ultimately minimize its reliance on procuring foreign military equipment.”
The senator raised the need for the Philippines to build up its own defense industry. He believes that depending on foreign allies for military procurement “is unsustainable.”
“We want to keep good defense partnerships with other countries, especially when it comes to new technologies in defense. But it’s unwise to depend on them entirely,” Zubiri said.
“If they suddenly cannot supply us with the military vessels, equipment and ammunition that we need, we will be left to our own devices. We have to be able to defend ourselves, and this is what we aim to accomplish with the SRDP Act,” he added.
SB 2455 mandates the Department of National Defense (DND) to develop an SRDP Program, under which the government is directed to prioritize the purchase of locally made materiel.
Under the SRDP Act, in-country defense enterprises will enjoy exemption from national internal revenue taxes, value-added tax, and customs duties on imports of capital equipment, raw materials, and other such supplies necessary in local production — granted that these supplies are not locally available.
In-country defense enterprises selling products to the DND or other government agencies will also be exempt from the Single Largest Completed Contract requirement, which provides that a product be used by at least two foreign militaries before the Philippines can procure it.
“With the bill, we want to give the local defense industry a fighting chance at growing into a robust industry. We want to help local producers accelerate their growth and their ability to come out with competitively priced quality materiel for our own use,” Zubiri said.
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