Government can doublethe number of its operational C-130 planes to six next year byearmarking P1.5 billion in the 2014 national budget.

Senate President ProTempore Ralph G. Recto said the cost of refurbishing one mothballedC-130 in the Philippine Air Force inventory is P500 million.

The estimate, hesaid, was provided by the PAF itself.

“So if we set asideP1.5 billion in next year’s budget, then we will be able to double henumber of our C-130 fleet. And that is a very wiseinvestment the country should make,” Recto said.

Recto said the PAF’s threeC-130s have proven their mettle by flying relief sorties in theaftermath of Typhoon Yolanda.

“It was the firstplane to land in Tacloban after Yolanda laid waste to it. Since thenthe C-130s have conducted almost round-the-clock humanitarian airlift,” Rectosaid.

The C-130s werealso among the first responders to the Bohol earthquake, he said. “Andwhen Zamboanga was under siege, it was the C-130s who kept supplying thecity with fresh troops and supplies, sometimes delivering then underenemy fire,” he said.

“The recent tragicevents have proven one indisputable point : C-130s are essential transport. Theyshould be high up in the list of disaster response equipment. Theirpurchase should be part of disaster preparation,” Recto said.

“It doesn’t take arocket genius to figure out that a disaster-prone archipelago likeours need airlift capability,” Recto said.

Repairing an“unserviceable” C-130 in the PAF stock, Recto said, even at a cost ofP500 million per, is cheaper than buying a brand new C-130 whichhas a current price tag of $50 million or P2.2 billion.

He, however, saidthat government should not rule out buying brand new C-130s “if we havethe money for it, and if that is what the PAF would recommend after technicalreview.”

Recto believes thatthe government, using multi-year budgeting approach, meaning the paymentwill be spread out in years, can raise the amount for at least two brandnew C-130s.

“If we wereable to arrange funding for a squadron of South Korean-made FA-50 jets,then there’s no reason why we can’t do the same to C-130s,” Recto said.

He was referring tothe dozen fighter jets that the Philippines will be buying from Seoul at acost of almost P19 billion.

From a high of 18,the number of Air Force’s “mission capable” C-130 planes has whittled downto three.