Explanation of Vote

By Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Ralph G. Recto

15 May 2023

Mr. Speaker, my dear colleagues: 

To the casual observer, our defense material acquisition treads on two tracks.

The first is to rely on hand-me-downs, sometimes mothballed pieces, which would be more at home in museums than in the field.

It is often given to us by powers egging us to adopt a more combative role in defense of what is ours. But the quality of their help is like us being given a knife to bring to a gun fight.

Fact is, we will never be given the key to an ukay-ukay armory so we can pick what we need.

We have come to accept  that our defense should not be dependent on charitable acts of others. We have come to realize that relying on external altruism is a poor strategy to build up our external defense.

The second track, pursued by three of our last presidents, is to shop for arms we like, on our dime.

But our budget is limited to only what our checkbook can afford, plus loans that won’t max out the national credit card.

So within what our funds can afford, we have slowly bought jets, helicopters, ships, artillery pieces, admittedly not those equipped with Star Wars technology, but enough to perhaps give second thoughts to parties with Death Star capabilities.

This bill proposes a third track, to complement the two.

And that is to build our own, leveraging local defense manufacturers as building blocks, in the hope that more orders would spur development, as nothing accelerates innovation than demand.

For example, ARMSCOR has been producing world-class firearms, hailed by police and security forces in many countries for their dependability.

We have a vibrant shipbuilding industry in Cebu, Subic and Navotas.

They can build the vessels which can then be outfitted with weaponry sourced from outside.

What we import should not always be CBUs. If feasible, we should insist the right for local content and workmanship.

Naalala ko tuloy ang sinabi ko noon: “If we are building megaton ships here, then why are we buying tin license plates for our cars from Netherlands?”

Ngunit sadyang maraming kontra-pelo na magsasabing bili na lang tayo sa labas.

Oo nga at hindi naman po babalangkas ng rocket tulad ni Musk, but it should not deny us our own “man on the moon” moment, to dream of big dreams, even though we are sitting in the gutter. 

We often handicap ourselves by being the first ones to doubt our abilities. What we excel at is building glass ceilings, and telling us they are impregnable.

This bill, Mr. Speaker, creates a Ground Zero in building defense materials and equipment we need.

It calls for the creation of a Special Defense Economic Zone within Camp General Antonio Luna, Municipality of Limay in the Province of Bataan.

The SpeDEZ shall cover the 370-hectare Government Arsenal Industrial Estate inside the Camp.

But the Government Arsenal, which occupies 70 hectares, shall be firewalled from interference by the SpeDEZ, and shall remain a unit of the DND.

While it shall focus on its core mandate of producing weapons, ammunitions and other munitions for the use of the AFP and the PNP, nothing bars it from expanding its operations which can be done in conjunction with the SpeDEZ.

The location of Bataan is full of meaning and strikes a historical cord.

What is revered as a place of valor will now be a center of industry, driven by the same mission which spurred our heroes to gallantry: that the country shall not fall.

This bill also honors the vision of a great man: my mentor and colleague, Congressman and Governor Enrique ‘Tet’ Garcia of Bataan, whose ideals are kept burning by his children, worthy bearers of his legacy.

He was relentless in pushing the envelope, defying convention, tweaking the status quo, of dreaming things that never were, and ask, why not.

So in remembrance of this man who first entertained this vision, I vote ‘Yes’ to this measure and say “Let this bill start our Tet Offensive.”