US MILITARY AID | Washington transfers $18M worth of smart bombs to Manila, assures steady relationship

November 17, 2020 , 07:37 PM

By Manny Mogato, News5 editor-at-large

(November 17, 2020) – The United States has assured its long-time security ally and former colony its foreign policy towards the Philippines will not change under the incoming administration of Joseph Biden, the defense secretary said on Tuesday.

Retired general Delfin Lorenzana told journalists the administration of President Donald Trump will transfer to the Philippines some $18 million worth of smart bombs to boost the local anti-terrorism campaign.

The assurance was made to him during a meeting last Friday in Camp Aguinaldo by US Embassy’s highest ranking official John Law, Lorenzana said.

“Don’t worry, whoever is the president, the alliance will remain the same,” said Lorenzana, quoting the American embassy official who also thanked the government for extending the abrogation of the suspension of the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

Apart from the bilateral relations, Lorenzana said they also discussed Manila’s request for precision-guided bombs, which was turned down by the US Congress during the administration of former president Barack Obama.

But, under the Trump administration, the US State Department had offered to transfer the smart bombs under a program called Excess Defense Articles (EDA), a senior military general said.

Lorenzana said the precision-guided bombs will be transferred next month. “Those are precision-guided munitions which can be dropped with pinpoint accuracy,” he added.

The military has been requesting for these smart bombs to fight the pro-Islamic State militants in the south since 2013. But, at that time, the Philippines lacked a delivery platform to hit the Abu Sayyaf Group on the volatile island of Jolo.

During the five-month Marawi conflict, the military did not have smart bombs, dropping conventional aerial bombs, which killed some soldiers on the ground. There were so many unexploded ordnance and bombs in Marawi which remained a threat to this day.

Lorenzana said they also discussed the situation in the West Philippine Sea. “(We discussed their) concern in West Philippine Sea which is also our concern,” he said without giving specifics.

The Philippines claims parts of the West Philippine Sea believed to have rich deposits of energy resources. China, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have conflicting claims in the seas.

Lorenzana also said the US embassy official also had renewed US commitment to help fight the deadly virus that has infected more than 50 million people around the world.

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