The Philippine Army plans to revive the country's capability to manufacture its own defense equipment.

This was discussed by Philippine Army Commanding General, Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner, Jr. in an interview with Daily Tribune's digital program Straight Talk.

Brawner said the country was producing its own defense equipment like rifles, two-way radios, and ammunition under the self-reliance defense posture program during the time of then-President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., father of the current Philippine president.

"Unfortunately, hindi po na sustain it (We have not sustained it). But now we are again starting that program para hindi na po tayo kailangan bumili pa sa ibang bansa ng mga armaments natin (we will no longer have to purchase our armaments from other countries)," he said.

Lamenting that the Philippines has been lagging behind its neighboring countries Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia which are manufacturing their own defense equipment, he is confident the Philippines can still catch up in terms of improving defense initiatives.

With its pool of talented citizens working within the research and development sector, Brawner said the country can initiate domestic weapons production.

"Medyo nahuhuli na rin po tayo but kaya po natin. Kaya natin ang kailangan po dito ay (We are quite lagging behind but we can do it. We just need) again, the collaboration of the private sector, of government, of the academe," he said.

He added: "Strengthening our research and development (capacities), and we will be able to produce or manufacture our own weapon systems. We need to develop our industry."

The country's self-reliance defense posture program was first implemented in 1975 as the government's response to the Muslim secessionist movement in Mindanao.

It also serves as a support for the immediate and growing military hardware requirements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Brawner said innovations for the defense sector are now visible under this administration.

"In fact, the government arsenal is expanding and they will be able to create not just ammunition. They will be able to manufacture those big ammunitions for us including our mortars as well as 155 howitzers and rifles, they will also be producing weapons systems," he added.

He added: "At sabi nila, pinakita nila po na prospects nila (And also, they have shown us their prospects). In the future, they will be making even land transport vehicles and our armored vehicles," he said.

With a modernized weapons system, he said the Philippines can now catch up with other countries.

He added that these initiatives under the military transformation program of the Philippine Army are part of the AFP's efforts to modernize its defense units so that they can be "multi-mission-ready and cross-domain capable."

World-class Army
The Philippine Army targets to become one of the modern and world-class armies as it is now conducting a strategy refresh to achieve its goals and objectives by 2028.

Anchored on an Army Transformation Roadmap, Brawner said that by 2040, the country will have a modern, and world-class Army which is a source of national pride.

This means the Philippine Army will be more than capable to undertake any mission, be it internal security or territorial defense, and work on other domains.

"You know we have many domains, not only air, land and sea, but also cyber, we have a new cyber unit. In other countries, they have a space domain, but it looks like we won't be able to get there soon. But we should be able to fight in the cyber domain," he added in Filipino.