Philippine Armed Forces

Total Armed Forces:

active - 106,000

reserve - 131,000

Defence Budget:

1999 - $ 1.4 billion

2000 - $ 1.3 billion

Army: Philippine Army

active - 66,000

8 combat divisions

40 tanks

Navy: Philippine Navy

active - 24,000

1 frigate

60 patrol and coastal combatants

9 amphibious warfare ships

Air Force: Philippine Air Force

active - 16,000

47 total combat aircraft including
1 fighter squadron with 11 F-5s

97 armed helicopters

supporting air defense guns and missiles

Paramilitary Forces

active - 42,500

Assessment:

The Philippine Armed Forces has limited capability to defend its mainland and coastline against all existing and foreseeable threats. The lack of modern (and operational) air and naval forces has resulted in an acute inability to monitor the archipelago's vast air and sea spaces, leading to rampant piracy, smuggling, illegal fishing and therefore insecurity in the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Neither the navy nor air force can defend the Philippines' claims in the Spratly Islands, which are also contested by China, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Trends:

The 1997 financial crisis was a severe setback for the much-anticipated 15-year Philippine Armed Forces Modernization Program announced in 1996 to revive the neglected military. The $13.2 billion plan has been adversely affected due to the near-collapse of the peso, which has drastically reduced the purchasing power of the funds. Procurement plans for fighter-interceptor aircraft, a national radar surveillance system and maritime patrol vessels have been deferred. Maritime insecurity and a growing Chinese presence in the South China Sea, especially after the 1998 provocative reinforcement of Chinese naval structures on Mischief Reef in the Spratly group of islands, has forced the Philippines to return to a closer alliance with the U.S. The ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)in 1999 was Philippines' attempt to reinvigorate ties with the U.S. which fell by the wayside when the Philippine Senate had refused to renew comprehensive bases agreement with Washington in 1991, leading to the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Subic Bay and Clarke Air Field. The Philippine government hopes that a U.S. presence would be a balancing force against China, and there is also the prospect of the transfer of excess defense equipment from the U.S. to the ill-equipped Philippine armed forces and the conduct of joint exercises.

The Philippine government is again facing escalating separatist agitation and the Army has been involved in major operations against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)as well as the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf who seized more than 30 local and foreign hostages in March 2000.