IN a message for the Day of Valor, Senator Imee Marcos criticized the government regarding the issue on the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
According to Marcos, the Philippines should not rush into war without bringing weapons despite the pretense and bravado.
“We cannot even ensure the integrity of our weapons and ammunition production lines, yet some of us are engaged in warmongering,” said Sen. Imee Marcos.
The senator also criticized the lack of primary production of weapons and ammunition by the Government Arsenal (GA) last year despite the expenditure increasing by 420%.
Based on the Commission on Audit (COA) Report, the GA, an agency under the Department of National Defense, was unable to produce sufficient small arms and ammunition even though they allocated almost PhP455 million from their budget for the MOOE (Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses) in 2023, compared to only PhP87.4 million in 2022.
Marcos expressed her dismay over the COA report regarding the wasted money.
“Money is being wasted. Will the lives of our men in uniform be wasted as well?” Sen. Imee Marcos added.
She also questioned if the lives of men in uniform would also be wasted amidst the worsening tension between the Philippines and China on the West Philippine Sea issue.
Nevertheless, the senator insisted that only meaningful dialogue between the Philippines and China can save the situation that is only beginning to worsen.
“No weapons system, not even the most advanced ones, can stop a war — if that is what some of us want to achieve with all the noise. Constant dialogue, not only on the level of our foreign affairs department, coast guard, and defense establishment but also the legislature and the president himself — the architect of our foreign policy and commander-in-chief of our armed forces — is key to overcoming the quagmire we are in,” Sen. Imee stated.
And she believes that the key lies in her brother, President Bongbong Marcos.
Sen. Imee Marcos, who chairs the Committee on Foreign Relations in the Senate, emphasized the need to elevate the level from the usual passing of diplomatic notes every time there are incidents of misunderstandings in the disputed territories in the WPS while pushing for multilateral talks involving all claimants to the territory including the Philippines, China, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
Sen. Marcos reiterated the need to bring this matter to ASEAN and the United Nations while emphasizing that we cannot do the same things repeatedly and expect different results each time.
