WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. downplayed concerns over the possible reaction of China to the proposed US ammunition hub in Subic.

“There’s been much comment saying these infrastructures, military infrastructures, and the programs that we are initiating will make us a target of China,” Marcos told reporters in a briefing after his meeting with US President Donald Trump.

“Are we not already a target of China? I think that what we have to be thinking about is protecting the Philippines,” he said.

In an earlier press briefing, Trump said he was expecting the Philippines and the US to have “more ammunition than any country has ever had” once the facility is finished.

“It’s very important. We need ammunition. We’re going to end up in a few months, we’ll have more ammunition than any country has ever had. We’re going to have more missiles than any country has ever had. We’re going to have all the speedy missiles,” Trump said.

“We’ll have the speedy ones, the slow ones, the accurate ones, the ones that are slightly less accurate. We’ll have everything. But we will have more ammunition than any country has ever had. It’s very important to make,” he added.

Marcos also defended the government’s pivot to the US amid China’s opposition to its continuous military cooperation with “forces outside the region.”

“[A]bout the ammunition production, this is actually the United States assisting the Philippines in what we call our Self-Reliance Defense Program, which is to allow us to be self-reliant and to be able to stand on our own two feet, whatever the circumstances that occur in the future,” he said.

“And that, and the reason that we have all, we have encouraged more interaction with the United States is because it is, again, it is necessary. And it is not just with the United States, it is with all our neighboring countries, and even countries as far afield as the Scandinavian countries, the EU. And this is an ongoing process,” Marcos said.

“And again, I will stress the point that we do this because we feel it is necessary,” he added.

Beijing has been vocal in its opposition to Manila’s defense cooperation with the US, which it has accused of hegemony in the Indo-Pacific region. Its latest demand includes the withdrawal of the US-owned Typhon missile system from the Philippines.

Marcos said the proposed US ammunition hub in Subic was not discussed during his bilateral meeting with Trump, adding that it “had been decided a long time ago.”

“I don’t think there was anything on that subject. We didn’t do any work on that. That had been decided a long time ago,” he said. “Not a year ago, but almost a year ago we had already decided.”

According to the President, the facility will form part of the Philippines’ Self-Reliant Defense Posture (SRDP) program, with the US providing support in terms of inviting local manufacturers to invest in the hub.

Marcos signed the SRDP Revitalization Act last year in a bid to bolster the country’s defense capabilities.

FDI model

Meanwhile, Teodoro said the proposed facility would be established under a foreign direct investment (FDI) model, despite having been approved by the US Congress.

“I believe the original concept, although it is funded by the US Congress, will be FDI. So it’s a foreign direct investment concept,” he said.

“We can envision a private entity going about it on a commercial basis, so they can hire people on a commercial basis,” he added.

Teodoro said the ammunition hub would not only generate jobs for Filipinos but would also raise revenues for Subic.

“It will increase our trade flow. That is an example of US government-sponsored foreign direct investment to help our people and our self-reliance too,” he said.

“It will also cater to the commonality of the production of munitions, which has a worldwide shortage at this time, of all calibers, whether direct fire or indirect fire,” he added.