Philippines’ slashed defence budget prompts calls for ‘creative financing’

The Philippine House of Representatives last week approved a defence budget of 254 billion Philippine pesos (US$4.5 billion) for 2025, representing a 16 per cent cut from the Department of National Defence’s (DND) original proposal. It does not include any allocations for new military equipment purchases.

In June, Marcos Jnr vowed at a security forum in Singapore to “develop our capacity to project our forces … to protect our interests and preserve our patrimony” in the West Philippine Sea – the country’s term for its territorial waters in the South China Sea.

The sum that he has approved, however, was not reflected in the amount allocated for the military’s modernisation programme next year.