Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr on Tuesday signed a law that seeks to develop the local defence industry by wooing foreign manufacturers of weapons to set up shop in the Southeast Asian nation.
Advertisement
The new legislation, called the Self-Reliant Defence Posture Revitalisation Act, will make the Philippines less dependent on supply chains and interests of “other parties”, Marcos said in a live-streamed speech at the signing ceremony.
“It’s a logical move forward for a country that finds itself at the fulcrum of geopolitical shifts and volatilities,” he said.
Marcos enacted the law at a time when the Philippines is prioritising external defence amid lingering tensions with China in the South China Sea. The two nations’ vessels have been involved in tense clashes as both assert overlapping claims to the key waterway.
The law also gives incentives including tax breaks to manufacturers who will establish assembly of defence equipment in the Philippines, according to Marcos. The measure will bolster the nation’s economic growth, he added.
Meanwhile, the armed forces of the Philippines, the United States and four other countries began joint naval exercises off the coast of northern Luzon island facing Taiwan in a display of naval strength amid rising tensions.
Advertisement