Philippines to Acquire First Submarine for Maritime Defense in South China Sea

The president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has authorized the third stage of the military’s modernization, including purchasing the nation’s first submarine, to safeguard the nation’s maritime sovereignty in the highly disputed South China Sea. 

Roy Trinidad, the spokesperson associated with the Navy in the West Philippine Sea, said on Thursday 1 Feb  that the third stage of modernization indicated a shift in focus from internal toward exterior defence. Per Trinidad, the third stage of the modernization strategy, which has been modified to meet the nation’s needs better, will probably cost two trillion pesos and take many years to complete.

The declaration came through during rising tensions with China regarding the territorial disputes and related issues in the waters of the South China Sea. Manila reportedly refers to that zone of the South China Sea in the country’s exclusive economic zone as the West Philippines Sea. On the other hand, Trinidad couldn’t’ say how many submarines the Philippines tried to acquire, but he said there would be more than one.

He explained that France, Italy, Spain, and Korea have shown significant interest in supplying the Philippines with submarines.

Southeast Asian neighbours such as Vietnam and Indonesia have submarine programs. According to Trinidad, the military’s modernization strategy was “land-centric” during the first and second stages. Still, the third phase will aim to enhance military capabilities in the West Philippine Sea, among other objectives.

Acquisitions within the third phase, announced by Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro last month, will focus on various capabilities, including intelligence, domain awareness, and deterrence in maritime and aerial space. In the turbulent South China Sea, where Beijing and Manila have overlapping claims to sovereignty, the two have traded various accusations in the past few months. Among these is the charge that China crashed a vessel in December that was loaded with the chief of staff for the Philippine armed forces.

China claims most of the South China Sea, even parts of Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia claim. An international tribunal back in 2016 invalidated the Chinese claim in a ruling on a case brought by the Philippines, which Beijing reportedly denies.