Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (AFP/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Philippines is diversifying its weapon supply sources with a recent deal with China.
On December 11, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced his decision of accepting an arms deal offered by China under concessional terms.
In a speech in front of local troops, Duterte said that military officials will be sent to China to receive the firearms, which will be payable over 25 years.
Meanwhile, Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the military is considering purchasing sniper rifles from Russia.
The Philippine army and navy would carry out a study to see if a deal with Russia could be forged, he added.
Lorenzana visited Russia last week on Duterte’s order to meet defence officials. This was the first visit by a Philippine defence chief to Moscow since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1976.
The Philippines has heavily relied on the US supply of weapons, ships and aircraft for years, despite the fact that it has sought defence equipment from other countries for military modernisation in recent years.-VNA
VNA
