The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is now embarking on a “comprehensive archipelagic defense concept” to ensure that the country would benefit from the natural resources that are to be found in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said Tuesday night.

In his speech at the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) forum at the Fairmont Makati Hotel, Teodoro said this transformation is initially aimed at allowing the AFP to protect and guarantee “Philippine nationals, Philippine corporations, and those authorized by the Philippine government the unimpeded and peaceful exploration and exploitation of all natural resources within our EEZ and other areas we have jurisdiction.”

Teodoro said this concept will also allow the Philippines to project its military power into areas that must be protected and preserved, pursuant to the Constitution.

“So other than a forward-looking concept, we are evolving into a defense concept which projects our power into our areas where we must by Constitutional fiat and duty, protect and preserve our resources,” he said.

Teodoro also cited the importance of protecting Philippine interests and Filipinos in an increasingly volatile and unpredictable world, hence the need to develop the AFP capable of carrying out such missions in the future.

“For example, should we need to import oil in areas which are heavy with pirates, heavy with international criminals, we will have to have the wherewithal to protect Philippine vessels and other interests in those areas,” he added.

Teodoro said these tasks are not simple and involve more efforts aside from the acquisition of new equipment to beef up the AFP’s capability.

“We have to marshal the resources of making the best of what we have, making sure that acquisitions made are supportable, sustainable, and redundancy is built-in,” he said.

Boosting AFP surveillance, denial capabilities

Teodoro also said the “Rehorizon 3” capability and enhancement modernization program of the AFP, which was recently approved by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., will give the military an array of capabilities that will boost its capability in protecting the nation.

He added that the AFP capabilities to be boosted include domain awareness, connectivity, intelligence capabilities or “C4ISTAR”, area denial and deterrence capabilities on both the maritime and aerial domains.

“Those will be emphasized in our acquisitions,” Teodoro said.

Teodoro said the DND has also urged Congress to allot adequate maintenance and operating funds which is needed for training of military personnel and have a greater exposure and mobility in areas the AFP needs to have significant presence like the West Philippine Sea, where the country cannot tolerate violations to its territorial integrity by any nation.

“And far enough that is the standing order of the President insofar as we are concerned,” Teodoro said.

Encroachment to PH territory cannot be justified

In the question and answer portion of the event, the DND chief also emphasized that the “illegal encroachment by one country on us and that cannot be justified by a big power play or big power competition.”

He added that this act is “plain and simple denial” of the Philippines’ right interest and the narrative that the country is being party to a super power rivalry is being used as a “deflection mechanism” to hide the real intention of the occupation of “all almost all if not all of the South China Sea.”

Teodoro also stressed the need to create a credible deterrent capability in order to face present and future threats.

“We have to create a capable, agile, sustainable, secure, credible in all defense establishment with a credible deterrent capability. Whatever the threats are, that is what you need in order to secure your territory because we are not only talking about one area, we are also talking about the Philippine Rise, we are talking about other threats in the future,” he added. (PNA)