One story coming out from New Delhi about President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s state visit to India is the desire of the Philippines to buy more modern weapons of war from that great Asian country.
It can be recalled that the Philippines purchased the BrahMos missile system from India in 2022, “with the shipment still ongoing as of 2025,” reported a major local daily.
Marcos has praised the system’s performance during practice runs, it was also reported.
The PH president also told India’s Firstpost news network thus:
“We are in the process of actually procuring more. So again, whatever else, the Indian defense industry has been growing rapidly and your technology is second to none, so that’s always an option to us.”
This talk about the country’s desire to ramp up its defense capability by modernizing our weapons of war has always been linked to the perceived security threats from China in the South China Sea— a narrative that for the last several years have been stoked by pro-US elements in Philippine society, especially the military, media and the government’s executive and legislative departments.
Even local journalists accompanying Marcos in his India trip were even ready with loaded questions. They asked Bongbong Marcos if India’s weaponry could match China’s.
To which the President’s reply was a safe statement, “We don’t look at it that way. We look at it… if they are able to defend the Philippines and I think they will. I think they are very good pieces of equipment.”
The Chief Executive added that he would like to think that India could be a primary weapons supplier to the Philippines, as the Asian giant offers high-quality weapons at competitive prices.
It is either Bongbong is clueless about recent military matters or he was just being courteous to his hosts in India. But it should be mentioned that in the short war between Pakistan and India last May, Pakistan officials claimed to have shot down six Indian jets, including the French-made Rafales, which India confirmed the loss of some aircraft.
In that war, Pakistan used the Chengdu J-10C Vigorous Dragon or the J-10 from China. Experts said the Chinese system allowed the J-10s flying closer to India to obtain radar feeds from the surveillance plane cruising further away, meaning the Chinese-made fighters could turn their radars off and fly undetected.
This incident caused a drop in the stock price of Dassault, which makes the Rafale. Indonesia, which has outstanding Rafale orders, has said it is now considering purchasing J-10s—a major boost to China’s efforts to sell the aircraft overseas.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks willing to extend credit to the Philippines for its purchase of Indian defense equipment, but still, it is the Filipino people who will pay for this in the near future. Marcos and Gibo and Brawner are the only ones smiling.
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