MAKATI CITY — A former top Philippine Navy official on Friday urged the country to develop its own drone manufacturing capability, saying innovation and asymmetric warfare are essential to strengthening the Philippines' defense posture.

Speaking at the Kyiv-Manila Dialogue, former Philippine Navy Vice Commander Rear Adm. Rommel Jude Ong said the war in Ukraine has reshaped modern military strategy and underscored the value of investing in locally built drones.

"When I talk to my active service Navy guys, I always tell them the non-existent Ukrainian Navy was able to defeat the Russian Black Sea Fleet without even using a ship," Ong said.

Now a professor of praxis and senior research fellow at the Ateneo School of Government, Ong said the Philippine Navy recognized as early as 2016 the need to adopt an asymmetric strategy to counter larger naval forces in the South China Sea.

He said the approach led to the acquisition of the BrahMos anti-ship missile system, while plans to procure submarines were shelved because of cost.

"My message to my former colleagues in the Navy is you have to be innovative, and you have to throw the book away if the book is no longer relevant," Ong said.

Rather than relying solely on imported systems, Ong said the Philippines should develop its own drone production capability.

"We're looking now, in my previous conversations, not at buying drones, but at building our sovereign drone production capability in the Philippines," he said.

Ong acknowledged that the effort would be challenging because "the ecosystem is not yet designed for it," but said a domestic drone industry would complement existing defense capabilities, including the BrahMos missile system.

The Philippines received its first India-made BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system in 2024.

Operated by the Philippine Marine Corps, it is considered the country's most powerful strategic strike weapon. Last year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the government plans to acquire additional BrahMos missile batteries to strengthen the country's deterrence capability amid growing regional security challenges.