Ph Needs Subs Like Crazy to Deter China

By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

I was glued recently to a Taiwanese television talk show where the guests of the female host of the Taiwan Talks were Kuo Yu-jen (National Sun Yat-sen University Institute of China and Asia-Pacific Studies Professor and Director) and Tony Hu (former U.S. Department of Defense Senior Director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia). Taiwan Talks is the flagship current affairs show of TaiwanPlus. It analyzes the latest global developments from a Taiwan perspective.

ATTACK SUB. South Korean made Jan Bogo’s submarine docked at Pearl Harbor during RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) 2018. Photo is internet grabbed.

The topic zeroed on the indispensability of submarines for the Philippines military to deter the incessant intrussions of the saber rattling Chinese Navy, Chinese Coast Guard, and militia ships in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of our country.

Kou said: “The more threat the subs could pose is actually the stealth. Not always the enemy to know your location or your capability and your point at so that’s the major reason I believed it the Philippines needs submarines so much”.

Kou however said procurement of a sub is expensive on the part of the cash strapped country.

“It requires a lot of money but also (expensive) to maintain and specially to maintain the subs to be capable and ready to fight anytime”.            

I disagreed however on Kuo Yu-jen prognosis when he said that the forthcoming May 12 national election is not looking good for President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. “So you know the Congress might stop the government to have specific budget for the two submarines,” he explained about the critical members of the august chamber.

The 313 members of the House of Representatives toe the line whoever is in power at the Presidential Palace besides the Pasig River, as seen by this author. Although their role is lawmaking, congressmen need pork barrel or cut like crazy from the contractor of government infrastructures that reached up to 20 percent of the project they used for their personal and political advantages. A P1 billion projects for bridges, highways, roads, dikes, and whatchamacallit make a member of the House of Thieves, er, Representatives richer by P200 million a year. These knaves have three years to satisfy their venality through sleaze. They can be reelected twice for another six years of helping plunder economy, susmariosep!

Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries pitches its various submarines like the U.S$900 million  diesel-electric attack submarine’s KSS-III (Korean Submarine-III) for all and sundry during the Asian Defense and Security (ADAS) 2024 arms expo’ held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City last September 2024. This writer takes a photo of the black coat clad Senator JV Ejercito – an ardent supporter of the modernization of the  military -- being briefed by Hyundai executives about the nuances of the subs and the other products there.

The President and past presidents allow this corruption so that their urgent bills could be expedited by these lawmakers. This quid pro quo is also their safety net incase some righteous members file impeachment rap by exhorting the one-third of the 313 members, as mandated by the Constitution. With the grease on their palms, they would surely not cooperate with their collegues. It’s all about the dough from the contractors that they need to win their reelection or the election of their kin as they use the money to buy votes and fund other campaign expenses.

Majority of the 24 members of the upper house’s Senate are supportive of the President. Most of the 12 candidates seen as winners of reputable polls who vie for the same office for the May 12 election are allies of the President  

When the lady anchor cited which countries – France, South Korea, Spain, and Italy - would the Manila government buy the submarines, Tony Hu said that his personal gut feeling the Filipinos would settle for the Koreans.

“Philippines has purchased the FA-50 fighters from Korea and they purchased 12 and they have positive experienced with them. They are buying 12 more (the more advanced FA-50 Block 20- Author)”.

He said the submarines from South Korea are good and the manufacturer – like the maker of the FA-50 jets – has a good support services to the customers.

“I suspect that will lead them towards the Korean submarines – that’s my gut feel,” Hu reiterated.

South Korea's Hanwha Ocean is actively pursuing a deal to sell its Jang Bogo-III class submarines to the Philippines Navy. This includes a submarine force package with training, technology transfer, and support services. The Philippines Navy is seeking to modernize its fleet and has been actively pursuing the acquisition of submarines, with South Korea, France, and Spain competing for the contract. 

The Korean sub, according to Wikipedia, is a variant of the Type 209 diesel-electric attack submarine initially developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) of Germany, intended for service with the South Korean Navy and Indonesian Navy. A Daewoo (DSME)-upgraded model of the Jang Bogo class Type 209 was exported by Korea to Indonesia in 2012, amid heavy competition from Russian, French, and German-Turkish consortiums including from Germany's original Type 209.

When I attended the Asian Defense and Security (ADAS) 2024 arms expo’ held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City last September 2024, the biggest booth – among the 250 booths of exibitors from renowned merchants of deaths  with names like Lockheed Martin, Saab (that brought its C/D and E/F variants Gripen scale models),  India's Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and  Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya (NPOM) (the maker of the vaunted Brahmos missiles that I extensively wrote on my blog after I interviewed its executives in the ADAS 2019) is a booth of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries where they pitch to sell their U.S$900 million diesel -electric attack submarine's KSS-III (Korean Submarine-III) for all and sundry in the world. I have a photo somewhere in this article about Hyundai obsequious executives mill around the black coat clad Senator JV Ejercito – an ardent supporter of the military modernization -- being briefed about the nuances of the sub and the other products of Hyundai.

 Hyundai built the Jose Rizal-class and the Miguel Malvar-class of the Philippines Navy. The Jose Rizal-class is a modified version of the Incheon-class frigate of the Republic of Korea Navy, while the Miguel Malvar-class is based on HHI's HDF-3100/HDC-3100 design.

(Writer is a Professor of Political Science and a military blogger)