Philippine Defense Forces

[renell]

umm we actually don't really need high tech fancy machines in order to be a capable military system. In fact there is a book called " Unrestricted Warfare" written by chinese generals in china on how an inferior old tech cold war technology THAT IS VERY CHEAP can defeat a VERY COSTLY modern high tech US sophisticated military system. I would like our military leaders to read this book and study it if they still haven't yet as this would really be a great help to them.

Indeed that's true, even if we can afford it I don't think there are real uses of SAM missiles, fighter jets and aircraft carriers. And just think of the maintenance cost. As unattractive it might seen, but we just need machinery that can do the dirty missions: transporting troops, lightweight communication equipment, anti-insurgent aircraft (e.g. OV-10s, or something better) and such

[jrevalde]

Hehe, OV-10s are prone to mechanical problems, el flying coffins...they should focus on buying lightarms, nightvision equipment and body armor and maybe an attack helicopter with thermal imaging, hehe

[TJ]

Abosuletly, we must also focus more on intelliegence and covert operations becoz our enemies are terrorists and guerilla's like the abu sayaf, npa and milf who use unconventional tactics.

[TJ]

Originally Posted by Askal82

... and Philippines is US' first Vietnam actually. Remember what happened during the so-called war for independence? In US history books, its known as the Philippine insurrection giving them the appearance that its their destiny to tame 'uncivilized societies'.

And this is what happened

The Philippine-American War started on February 4, 1899 and was officially proclaimed by President Roosevelt to have ended on July 4, 1902.

The Philippine-American War was a war of attrition. The Americans identified their objective as the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo, the President of the fledging Philippine Republic. They initially perceived conquest and pacification as dependent on the fall of the Aguinaldo government. Because of their superiority in weapons, they also believed that the war would be short and swift in their favor. But the Americans were shocked at the courage and tenacity of the Filipinos who dragged the Americans into several years of battle.

In 1899, because of their firepower, the US forces under General Arthur MacArthur (father of Douglas) were able to "break out" of Manila and begin moving into the interior, aided in particular by heavy shelling from naval vessels. Dewey's artillery destroyed the area where the Filipinos were entrenched, causing heavy casualties (3000 that first day). It also caused a British observer to say that "this is not war; it is simply massacre and murderous butchery." As they moved through the suburbs, homes were vandalized and looted (a letter home from a soldier reads "the house I had at Santa Ana had five pianos. I couldn't take them, so I put a big grand piano put of a second-story window.").

The american Newspaaper Chicago Tribune commented the fighting deaths that occurred the night the Philippine-American War began:

"The slaughter at Manila was necessary, but not glorious. The entire American population justifies the conduct of its army at Manila because only by a crushing repulse of the Filipinos could our position be made secure. We are the trustees of civilization and peace throughout the islands."

US troops continued to spread outward from Manila, taking the small towns and cities as they went. On the way, the soldiers (many of whom did not want to be there and some suffering from sicknesses common in the area) inflicted heavy casualties on the Filipinos; sometimes killing prisoners (if taken at all). Houses and buildings were burned. One soldier stated that he had "with his own hand set fire to over fifty houses of Filipinos after the victory at Caloocan. Women and children were wounded" (note: after the victory). In many cases, between the fighting and fleeing, towns were left without any inhabitants. Said of the battle referred to in the last quote: "Caloocan was supposed to contain 17,000 inhabitants. The Twentieth Kansas swept through it, and now Caloocan contains not one living native."

Town after town seemed to fall under the US control. And with it came the carnage. After shelling Malabon, the soldiers "went in and killed every native we met, men, women, children." On the other hand, it went both ways as the Filipinos were sometimes known to hack up the soldiers with their bolos (whether they would have resorted to doing so with innocent noncombatants is an interesting question).

The Filipinos waged a guerrilla warfare which was suitable for the country’s terrain and their limited firearms. Many of them were peasants by day and revolutionaries by night. They were sustained in their struggle by the unrelenting support of entire towns. Even if the American flag was displayed in the town and the local elite officials publicly acknowledged support to the United States, it did not matter since the guerrillas received food, supplies, and shelter from the people. It was dangerous for an American to stray away from the U.S. garrison lest he be hacked to death by the guerrillas and their sympathizers.

Towards the end of 1900, the Americans declared martial law. To combat guerrilla warfare, they launched a scorched-earth "pacification" campaign. Every Filipino, whom the Americans called "******", was viewed as an enemy regardless of whether he or she took up arms. Entire towns were held responsible for the actions of guerrillas. Mere objection to the Americans was termed treason. Villages sympathetic to the guerrilla were burned and people indiscriminately killed. Torture was systematically used to elicit information from suspected guerrillas or their symphatizers. One form of torture was the "water cure" treatment where the victim was forced to drink excessive amounts of water after which he was stomped on the stomach. These atrocities were widely known since the U.S. War Department imposed a blanket censorship, but American soldiers wrote to their families and relatives in the U.S. and related their activities. Some of these letters were eventually published in American local newspapers, thus highlighting the brutality of these "pacification" campaigns.

Part of the strategy was the introduction of "reconcentration", a policy of hauling an entire population into concentration camps to flush out the guerrillas among them and to cut their material support to the resistance movement. In the process of reconcentration, whole towns suffered from starvation and disease. Villagers were taken from their sources of livelihood and were not decently fed. Worse, living conditions were less than adequate, with people confined in overcrowded camps without proper sanitation. Camps then became breeding grounds for the spread of deadly diseases such as cholera.

Major General Franklin Bell wanted to break the resistance movement of the Batangueno Filipino General Miguel Malvar. The Batanguenos were forcibly brought into reconcentration camps. Everything outside the camp was confiscated or destroyed, and anyone caught outside was automatically deemed a guerrilla. In Batangas, casualties as a result of fighting and reconcentration surpassed 100,000.

On Sept. 28 1901 Filipino guerillas infiltrated the town of Balangiga, Samar, attacking American troops at their breakfast table and killing 54.
Afte the succesfull attack on American soldiers at Balangiga in 1901, due to the public demand in the U.S. for retaliation, President Theodore Roosevelt ordered the pacification of Samar. And in six months, General “Jake” Smith transformed Balangiga into a “howling wilderness.” He ordered his men to kill anybody capable of carrying arms, including ten-year-old boys.

Smith particularly ordered Major Littleton Waller to punish the people of Samar for the deaths of the American troops. His orders were: “I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn, the more you kill and burn, the better you will please me. I want all persons killed who are capable of bearing arms in actual hostilities against the United States.”

Battered, worn, and subjected to policies specifically targeting their civilian supporters, Filipino commanders finally surrendered one by one, though active fighting went on until 1902 and sporadic outbreaks of violence continued until 1907. By the end of the war 5000 American lives had been lost, more than the combined casualty tolls of he Spanish-American and Mexican American wars. Filipino casualties are impossible to determine, but estimates range from 250,000 to over 1,000,000.

[TJ]

Tsk Tsk.. We truly have such short term memories don't we??

[renell]

Originally Posted by jrevalde

Hehe, OV-10s are prone to mechanical problems, el flying coffins...they should focus on buying lightarms, nightvision equipment and body armor and maybe an attack helicopter with thermal imaging, hehe

they're flying coffins because the PAF isn't maintaining it. "an attack helicopter" would be a flying coffin too. and body armor isn't much use when the insurgents have RPG rounds exploding around you. plus our soldiers would sacrifice armor for mobility in the Mindanao jungles.

[TJ]

What do u think about UAV's?? Do u think they can be usefull in dense jungle terrains??

[amras]

Originally Posted by TJ

Tsk Tsk.. We truly have such short term memories don't we??

this is shocking... these information are not even included in most of our history books. Short term memories is not the problem at all, we didn't have those memories in the first place.

[TJ]

Maybe becoz it was not popularly publicized or the whole entire story being told like the other wars becoz it would show their own hypocricy.

[jrevalde]

Originally Posted by TJ

What do u think about UAV's?? Do u think they can be usefull in dense jungle terrains??

Hehe, I've been wondering about that as well, it doesnt look like it can do much in dense jungle, I think they would be more suited for the navy, patrolling maritime borders with indonesia and malaysia since boats stand out in water. Isnt there a plan to purchase or rent UAV's from the US by the AFP?

[TJ]

im not sure but i heard i think i even saw it on tv the AFP are also making their own version out of UAV out of RC planes. hehe

[Askal82]

Originally Posted by TJ

Tsk Tsk.. We truly have such short term memories don't we??

I hope that the generations of Filipinos intoxicated with colonial mentality will soon disappear to be replaced by a fresh young generation of Filipinos who can think for themselves by being more assertive and progressive.

[bustero]

You mean the ones who watch MTV and Nickledeon or the ones who watch Meteor Garden and Marimar!

[TJ]

Originally Posted by Askal82

I hope that the generations of Filipinos intoxicated with colonial mentality will soon disappear to be replaced by a fresh young generation of Filipinos who can think for themselves by being more assertive and progressive.

That's just a bit of reality and a lot of hypocricy and we must never forget our history as we pursue our destiny.

[DoggMann]

... we cant compete with our neighboring SE asians when it comes to military equipment and technology ... kawawa naman tayo pag nag ka gyera ...

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southea.../HE03Ae03.html

Southeast Asia
May 3, 2006

Military muscles bulging in SE Asia
By David Isenberg

KUALA LUMPUR - Southeast Asia's arms market is booming, as governments in the region shell out funds for everything from light arms to fighter jets in a gathering race to keep pace with their neighbors. Asia, driven mostly by China and India, has in recent years emerged as the largest developing-world market for arms sales, accounting for nearly half of all global purchases made between 2001 and 2004.

Southeast Asia's military budgets are also soaring once again, as governments ramp up arms spending after years of belt-tightening induced by the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Southeast Asia's top five military spenders, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam, had a combined military budget of US$14.3 billion in 2004, according to the United States' National Bureau of Asian Research. Preliminary estimates show that regional military spending was provisionally higher last year.

If attendance at last week's arms show in Kuala Lumpur is any indication, that spending spree is set to carry over into 2006. The 10th annual Defense Services Asia Global Tri-Service Defense and Government Security Exhibition set an event record with more than 450 different global exhibitors, and although exact figures for the amount of deals made at the show were not made publicly available, it was clear to those in attendance that business was, well, booming.

Many Southeast Asian buyers spoke about long-overdue military modernization needs as the incentive behind their purchases. Others suggested they needed to prepare to repel armed insurgencies or unmentioned full state threats.

The unspoken subtext is the perceived need to safeguard against China's growing military might in the event Beijing someday takes on a more aggressive foreign policy toward its smaller regional neighbors. The Rand Corporation, a respected US-based think-tank, estimates that China, which claimed to have a $29 billion defense budget last year, actually spent between $42 billion and $51 billion in a rapid, if not secretive, military modernization drive.

There was plenty of geostrategic politics at play at the Kuala Lumpur arms show. Russia, which is aiming to ramp up global sales for its military hardware and strategically counterbalance China's growing economic influence in the region, was particularly active in brokering deals. Russian arms dealers have recently had a large measure of success in peddling their wares in Southeast Asia, signing contracts with Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia for aircraft exports worth nearly half of Russia's total global exports in recent years.

Fourteen Russian military-industry enterprises exhibited 450 samples of armaments and military hardware, according to Rosoboronexport, the Russian state-owned arms trader. These included the T-90S and T-72M1 main battle tanks, BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, and armored personnel carriers, as well as 152-millimeter and 155mm Msta-S self-propelled howitzers.

The Russian aircraft company Sukhoi announced at the expo its plans to promote an export version of its Su-34 assault planes, known as the Su-32, for countries that already have Russian-produced Su-24 Fencer fighter-bombers. In tit-for-tat fashion, Southeast Asian governments are upgrading their air forces to protect their aerial sovereignty better.

Russia registered a new post-Soviet arms-sales record last year, exporting $6.1 billion worth of weapons. While China and India are still Moscow's top customers, several Southeast Asian militaries, particularly those of Indonesia and Malaysia, have taken a liking to Russia's comparatively cheap wares. Russian fighter jets have been particularly popular: Myanmar's ruling generals spent $150 million on 10 MiG-29 fighters in 2001; Malaysia was first in the region to buy Russian planes in 1994.

Thailand, which is battling a spiraling insurgency in its southernmost provinces, confirmed last December high-level discussions with senior Russian officials about terms and conditions for a planned purchase of an undisclosed number of Su-30 jet fighters. If the deal goes through, it would represent a notable new direction for Thai air force procurements, which traditionally have been purchased from the United States. Thailand currently has a fleet of aging F-16s and had to put plans to buy more advanced F-18s on hold in the wake of the regional financial crisis.

Expo host Malaysia, whose officials are hoping to establish the country as a regional defense-market hub, were particularly acquisitive, partially with Thailand in mind. As recently as a few years ago, the Malaysians did not have a main battle tank, an Su-30 fighter jet or a submarine - all of which they now have or plan to acquire.

Local Malaysian companies and foreign arms dealers signed 13 different memoranda of understanding and agreements related to defense, many of which had been pre-approved as required by Malaysia's military procurement system. Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia signed RM1.1 billion ($304 million) worth of contracts, letters of acceptance and letters of intent with arms dealers at the show.

Eager to modernize its military to help deal with the threat of regional terrorism, Najib handed out defense contracts worth nearly $220 million on the first day of the show, including with European giant EADS and Armaris, a joint venture between a French state-owned shipyard and Thales Communications.

Another deal saw Malaysian heavyweight Defense Technologies Sdn Bhd, or DefTech, the main supplier of defense vehicles to the Malaysian Armed Forces, sign strategic collaborations with five foreign partners, including Switzerland's MOWAG GmbH and Ruag Land Systems, France's Thales Communications, Belgium's FN-Herstal and Turkey's FNSS Defense Systems for the supply of field vehicles, weapon systems, spare parts, and technology transfer to the local defense industry.

Apart from terrorist threats, Malaysia is on the defensive for a variety of reasons, including long-simmering territorial disputes with Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines, which could heat up as regional competition for access to offshore oil and gas intensifies.

The conflict in southern Thailand along Malaysia's northern border has recently emerged as one of the region's security hot spots, at times putting majority-Buddhist Bangkok and majority-Muslim Kuala Lumpur at diplomatic loggerheads.

Meanwhile, tensions are again brewing with Malaysia's heavily armed neighbor Singapore, which last year purchased 20 new US F-15 fighter jets to bolster its air defenses. Singapore, which is now lobbying Kuala Lumpur to allow it to use Malaysian air space to train its fighter pilots, has indicated it has a "long-range" need for up to 100 new combat aircraft.

Malaysian aerospace firm Airod signed two agreements - technical services and basic ordering - with Switzerland's Pilatus to support of the Royal Malaysian Air Force's (RMAF) PC-7 Mk I and Mk II aircraft. Russia was so eager to close deals with Malaysia that it diplomatically agreed to allow two Malaysian cosmonauts to start training in Russia for a journey to the International Space Station this year.

Similarly, Moscow provided the Indonesian military with $1 billion in credits to purchase Russian military hardware. Last month, Jakarta announced that it was buying an additional six Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia in an effort to beef up its air force, apparently to keep pace with Malaysia's planned procurements.

Russia was not the only one aggressively peddling its wares to Southeast Asia's militaries. Polish arms manufacturers said they expected to sign contracts worth several hundred million dollars at the show. Poland's largest arms maker, Bumar, is carrying out a $370 million contract to deliver 48 PT-91 tanks to Malaysia.

In March, Poland announced it had offered to extend a $260 million soft loan to Indonesia in hopes of reviving past military trade relations. In the 1990s, when Indonesia's economy and military procurements were booming, Poland sold helicopters and airplanes to Jakarta. The Indonesian military recently ordered a fleet of new patrol boats from Gdynia-based Navy Shipyards to shore up its capability against piracy and possible sea-borne terrorists.

Britain's BAE, meanwhile, was specifically targeting the navies of Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, which jointly patrol the pirate-infested waters of the Malacca Strait, one of the world's most important waterways for global trade and increasingly considered a potential target for global terror networks. BAE advertised its new unmanned drone as "ideal" for reconnaissance along the 900-kilometer strait.

David Isenberg, a senior analyst with the Washington-based British American Security Information Council (BASIC) and a member of the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy, has a wide background in arms control and national security issues. The views expressed are his own.

(Copyright 2006 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing .)

[TJ]

^ Maybe competing and seeing our neigbhor as a threat is not a good idea. After taiwan who knows what would CHINA's next move would be. I think the SE countries should consider making a coalition maybe now somewhere in the future. Kinda like the NATO and other kinds of European coalition formed during the Cold War. I think this is essential and would help us in detering any offense military moves by china against SE countries if ineed there would be.

[DoggMann]

Originally Posted by TJ

^ Maybe competing and seeing our neigbhor as a threat is not a good idea. After taiwan who knows what would CHINA's next move would be. I think the SE countries should consider making a coalition maybe now somewhere in the future. Kinda like the NATO and other kinds of European coalition formed during the Cold War. I think this is essential and would help us in detering any offense military moves by china against SE countries if ineed there would be.

I think the Philippines and China have a strong diplomatic realtionship... the only conflict we have with them are the spratly ... IMHO we have more problems with malaysia than any other country... one example is sabah ... it should had been ours ... madami pa naman mina ng langis sayang ...

[TJ]

You cannot trust China totaly and as long as it is controlled by a militaristic government that has no concience we should never let our guard down and as we head to the future where CHINA will become a superpower it will threaten the regional peace and stability. So we therefore we should form a coalition with our neighbors instead of seeing them as a threat becoz if we remain divided someone is sure to take advantage of that.

[demented_pigeon]

Originally Posted by TJ

You cannot trust China totaly and as long as it is controlled by a militaristic government that has no concience we should never let our guard down and as we head to the future where CHINA will become a superpower it will threaten the regional peace and stability. So we therefore we should form a coalition with our neighbors instead of seeing them as a threat becoz if we remain divided someone is sure to take advantage of that.

i'm ticked off with their idea of having a compromise with regards to the Kalayaan islands... (philippine part of spratley islands). how can they talk about sharing something they do not own? even the international treaties can't support their false claims. the islands have to be within 200 nautical miles off their mainland for it o be internationally recognized as their territory. but their territory doesn't even reach the nearest spratley islet to china. if anyone of you guys read the report of national geographic with regards to this issue a long time ago, you'd see that more than half of the spratleys belong to us.

oh and by the way, the government should give contracts to armscor, FBMA, and other companies capable of producing better, cheaper, and not to mention all-filipino-made products in order for our military to accomplish its modernization program.

[demented_pigeon]

Originally Posted by amras

this is shocking... these information are not even included in most of our history books. Short term memories is not the problem at all, we didn't have those memories in the first place.

we didn't have these memories thanks to the americans effective education (or re-education if you ask me) program. the famous thomasite teachers themselves were used to black out every trace of nationalist aspiration from the youth at that time. that's why the americans preferred to make rizal as our national hero because they knew he was pacifist in his actions ( i'm not degrading rizal in anyway) rather than andres bonifacio. of course these things would not be easily accomplishd without the Filipino elite's support for they knew early on that they could capitulate support to the american side in order for them to maintain their vast power and lands. many historians in our country even credit this betrayal of the elite as the death blow of the nationalist-republican revolutionary movement. then on, the struggle morphed from colonized against colonizer to peasant against elite-bourgoise since most of the nationalists still fighting american rule were mostly peasant leaders from central luzon and southern tagalog and even some people from the azucarreras of the visayas. of course they soon got touch with socialist ideas from europe and america (yes, communism in the country first came from american communist... how ironic) and they discarded the liberal democratic ideas they got from rizal and the propagandists... haaaay.... and thats basically a short history of the revolutionary struggle and the socialist-communist movement.