We’ll keep US military ties as we ‘warm’ to China: Philippine armed forces chief
- The new armed forces chief Gilbert Gapay tells lawmakers the Philippines is still ‘really dependent on the US’ to maintain the ‘bulk of our equipment’
- His words contrast starkly to those of President Duterte, who vowed to Chinese officials in 2016 he would ‘separate’ from the US, which had ‘lost’
General Gilbert Gapay said that “while our ties with China are warming up, it doesn’t mean we are abandoning our ties with the United States and other traditional allies, we are maintaining all these ties with allied countries”.
The armed forces chief said “we continue to send our personnel to the United States to train with them” and “we have been receiving [maintenance support] from the US through foreign funding … the grants still continue”.
According to Gapay, “the bulk of our equipment is still US-made and we are really dependent on the US for maintenance”.
He told congressmen and senators that the Philippine armed forces received “roughly US$50 million a year for the maintenance of our aircraft, naval vessels and ground equipment like tanks”.
