President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is certain that the Armed Forces modernization program will resume once the country has recovered from the COVID-19 outbreak.
The commander-in-chief stated that the government would prioritize training and the acquisition of gear required to handle the country's "present dangers.
On July 7, Marcos told reporters after attending the Philippine Army Officer Candidate Course graduation rites in Taguig City that they must face the current dangers that the country is experiencing, believing that it will serve as a guide for them to solve.
The president stated in May that the government is working on Horizon 3 of the AFP modernization program. This year, Congress has set aside P45 billion for military modernization.
Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel previously stated that the P45 billion figure is P6 billion higher than the P39 billion figure for 2022.
He noted that P27.5 billion is in programmed appropriations and P17.5 billion is in unprogrammed appropriations of the P45 billion.
From December 2021 to June 2022, or during former President Duterte's last seven months in office, the Department of National Defense signed P109 billion in acquisition contracts for various aircraft and vessels, including P28 billion for two anti-ship, anti-submarine, and anti-aircraft corvettes from South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd.; P18.9 billion for three shore-based supersonic ramjet missile batteries from India's BrahMos Aerospace; P32 billion for 32 Black Hawk helicopters from Poland's PZL Mielec; and P30 billion for six long-range offshore patrol vessels from Hyundai, all of which are owned by Hyundai.
