Philippines pauses purchase plans for F-16s from US due to funding ‘chokepoint’

The US$5.6bn fighter jet sale has been paused as the Philippines prioritises other military modernisation projects, its envoy to the US says

“Right now, I think it’s on hold, mainly because … the funding is the key element of this whole purchase,” Jose Manuel Romualdez, the ambassador to the United States, told reporters.

Romualdez said Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro had said there were other priorities for the Armed Forces of the Philippines ahead of such a big-ticket item.

“We’ll see how it goes in the coming budget deliberations on how the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] will spend the allotted amount for the modernisation programme,” he said. “But like I said, it’s really the funding that is the choke point.”

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