GORDON STRESSES NEED FOR URGENCY IN GOING ABOUT THE AFP MODERNIZATION

Noting that it has been more than two decades years since the enactment of a law providing for the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Senator Richard J. Gordon has emphasized the need for urgency in implementing the measure.

Gordon pointed out that the AFP Modernization Act or Republic Act 7898, signed into law in 1995, mandated the modernization of the AFP "to a level where it can effectively and fully perform its constitutional mandate to uphold the sovereignty and preserve the patrimony of the Republic of the Philippines." This was subsequently amended in 2012.

"We must remember na ang modernization ng military natin mag-uumpisa dapat yun noong pang 1995 and even earlier dun sa Bases Development Conversion Authority na dapat gagamitin yung pera from the conversion of bases para makabili tayo ng modern weaponry. Right now, we are debating all the time all this need for our armed forces to modernize while other countries have already fully modernized," he said.

The senator stressed that while public attention is focused on the Department of National Defense' alleged P15.7 billion frigates deal fiasco, the internal and external threats to the country's security and national territory are becoming more foreboding, hence the need to step up on the military's modernization bid.

"Nakakagulat ito, nakakagimbal! Eto na dinidila-dilaan na nila ang ating mga isla, yung Spratlys, yung Scarborough Shoals, pero wala tayong sense of urgency. Akala natin may panahon tayo, pero China has built airfields, in 15 minutes, their airplanes can be here. Yung kanilang mga barko, in half a day they can be here. Kung meron tayong mga gamit, kaya ng mga sundalo natin yang gamitin para labanan ang mga kalaban. Sabi nga ni Winston Churchill, give us the tools and we will finish the job," he said.