00:00Defense Secretary Gilberto Chudoro is in favor of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr's statement that warships should not be sent to the West Philippine Sea.
00:08IBC13 reported from Balitang Pambansa.
00:14In the middle of the wars in the West Philippine Sea of China,
00:17Defense Secretary Gilberto Chudoro is in favor of the President's statement
00:21that warships should not be sent by the Philippine Navy to the West Philippine Sea.
00:25But, when he confirmed this, the King of the Philippine Navy is still on guard on this matter.
00:55This is under the principle of civilian control.
00:59The tension will not rise if there are no presence of warships in the area.
01:03On the other hand, Chudoro believes that China has no plan to stop the harassment
01:08that is being done to the Philippine ships in the West Philippine Sea,
01:11especially since their country is known for its thievery.
01:14That's why we should learn to defend our territory.
01:18It will not stop until we are not defended,
01:22that we have a presence.
01:23It is in our law that we cannot not be defended.
01:28That's why our President's order is that we should not give up.
01:34The Philippines also needs to be prepared to stop China's invasion of our territory.
01:40As part of the agency's plan,
01:41the Armed Forces of the Philippines will expand and continue the modernization program
01:46so that it can keep up with the security threats of the Philippines.
01:49We really need to increase the modernization, not just in the equipment,
01:56but also in its support facilities, such as military bases.
02:02We are short of equipment.
02:03The other day, we bought equipment, but the support systems were not enough.
02:10Now, we are chasing the foundation first, and then the modernization.
02:16The DND is also ready to assist the Philippine Coast Guard
02:19and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in protecting the Filipino fishermen.
02:24Along with modernization,
02:26there is also a focus on cyberspace where criminality is also a possible target.
02:32From IBC 13, JM Pineda for Balit Ang Pabansa.
