Defense chief meets counterpart at Pentagon

Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. and US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld met yesterday in the Pentagon to further bolster defense cooperation between the two countries.

Rosulo Manlangit, Department of National Defense public affairs director, said the discussions involved common defense interests and US military assistance to reform the Philippines’ defense capabilities.

"Our defense relations with the US (are) rooted in a long-time friendship and our defense cooperation is in the form of military (training)," Manlangit said in explaining Cruz’s trip to the Pentagon.

Cruz flew to the US Friday with Hawaii as his first stop, before proceeding straight to the Pentagon for his scheduled defense cooperation meeting with Rumsfeld.

Given the proper training, equipment and motivation, the military, under the capability upgrade program, could "lick" the decades-long insurgency problem in six years, Cruz said.

On hand to assist Cruz are Defense Undersecretary for Philippine Defense Reform (PDR) Ernesto Carolina and Defense Undersecretary for Legal and Priority Concerns Rodil Cruz.

Visiting Manila last month, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Eric John said the Philippine Defense Program will determine how the defense department is going to adjust to procurement systems, determine its needs in a new systematic way that would be transparent and predictable, and allow for better allocation of scarce resources.

"This one looks at how the Philippine Armed Forces are trained," he said.

"It is a comprehensive reform of the system, but more importantly, it is a reform designed to outlast any one particular administration so that the structural change of the defense establishment would be one that lasts for years."

New training programs for the AFP will be discussed to address current security challenges, such as terrorism, he added.

John said the US and Philippine governments see the PDR as a "very long-term plan."

"It is one that perhaps differs from previous defense reforms in that it has not just a political buy-in from the Philippine government, but a very real financial buy-in, since the majority of it is being paid for by the Philippines," he said.

"Therefore, this is a fiscal investment, not just a political investment in its future."

Earlier, the US agreed to share half the total cost of the PDR, a program aimed at modernizing the Philippine military, now the weakest in Southeast Asia.

Under the PDR, the defense department temporarily shelved the external defense program to solve within six years the country’s internal security threats from three decades of insurgency and secessionism.

Aside from these threats, the country also faces increasing terror threats from the Abu Sayyaf, the Rajah Solaiman Movement and the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network.

The three terrorist groups have banded together for continuing terror attacks in the country.

The US is also actively involved in fighting terrorism, not only in the country but also throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Aside from the US, the Philippines has standing defense agreements with 12 other countries, including China, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand. — Jaime Laude, Pia Lee-Brago