By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA
Because a significant part of the government funds -- ₱700 billion annually or equivalent to roughly 20% of the national budget -- goes to the pockets of plundering Philippines officials, I pity seeing our airforce joining the yearly Cope Thunder being held at either Clark or Basa Air Base with our lightfigher cum trainer FA-50s operates with either the American F-16 multiple role figher (in years 2024 and 2025) and the superiority fighter’s F-22 Raptor for this year’s exercise.
Exercise Cope Thunder 26-1 started in April 6 and concluded on April 17, 2026 at Clark by bringing together the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) for intensive two-week joint air combat training. The exercise featured PAF FA-50s and U.S. F-22 Raptors, focusing on interoperability, defensive counter-air operations, and combat readiness in Northern Luzon.
MY POSER
"I've been covering the Cope Thunder Exercises countless of times and I saw the Americans sent their high superiority jet fighters like the stealth F-22 Raptors and the F-35s, their multiple role fighters like the F16s and giant bombers like the B-52s while the Philippines joined them by sending her light fighter jet cum trainer FA-50s and even the propeller powered Brazil made Super Tucano? my poser to Maj. Gen. Dennis G. Estrella, PAF, Commander Air Logistics Command, Brig.Gen. Phillip Mallory, Hawaiii Air National Guard Commander, and Brig. Gen. Angelito R. Retuta, Wing Commander, Tactical Operations Wing – Northern Luzon in the opening day (April 6, 2026) of the Cope Thunder held at the Officers’ Club in Clark. That question was only one of the three posers from the media allowed by the Public Affairs Office (PAO) of the PAF under its chief and spokeswoman Col. Maria Christina Basco after she got the imprimatur of the bigwig from the information office of the PACAF based in Hawaii who was also in attendance at Clark.
Major General Estrella answered with equanimity my incisive question. Since the brass were not using a microphone and the three meters’ space given by the PAO prejudice the recorders of foreign and local mediamen to pick what all he said. Here’s the audible parts of what General Estrella - member of Class of 1991 of the Philippines Military Academy – captured by my video and my mobile phone recorder: “There is no mismatch”, “…So we are just covering the interoperability”. “That’s one of the aspect between interoperability of a dissimilar aircraft”.
Whether we like it or not there was really a mismatch and every Juan, Kulasa, and Procopio in this Thievingland knew about it, susmariosep!
F-22 COMPARES TO FA-50
The F-22 –made by U.S Lockheed Martin -- is a 5th-generation
fighter featuring advanced stealth shaping and coatings for low observability.
The South Korean made aircraft is a non-stealthy light fighter derived from a
supersonic trainer. The U.S manufactured fighter is built for air superiority,
deep penetration, and Beyond Visual Range (BVR) combat. The FA-50 – manufactured
by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) -- is designed for light attack, close air
support, and acting as a Lead-In Fighter Trainer (LIFT).
The F-22 features superior maneuverability, supercruise (supersonic flight without afterburners), and extreme thrust-to-weight ratios. The FA-50 reaches speeds around Mach 1.5, emphasizing efficiency over raw performance.
F-16 VIPER (BLOCK 70/72)
The F-16 Viper (Block 70/72) – produced by Lockheed Martin -- is a premier multirole fighter designed for top-tier combat, superiority, and heavy payload delivery. The Viper offers significantly higher thrust, longer range, superior Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, and more diverse weapons integration compared to the FA-50's lower operating costs and role as a lead-in fighter trainer (LIFT).
The F16 Viper cost U.S $70 million each or PHP P4.2 billion each or $840 million or P50.4 billion for a squardron (12 aircraft).
We could not afford to buy it and they (F-16s, or Gripens of Saab of Sweden, and the 4.5 generation KF-21 Boramaes of KAI of South Korea) remain a pipe dream what with a deficit of P2 trillion for this year’s budget of P6.8 trillion where our government collects only P4.8 trillion to fund her needs, according to Department of Finance Frederick D. Go.
MASSIVE CORRUPTION
If the government could eradicate the practices of many members of
the 318 strong House of Thieves, er, Representatives asking 20% from the
contractors of their average annual P1 billion allocation to intercede with infrastructure
projects and services at the Departments Public Works and Highway, Agriculure,
Agrarian Reform, Health, Social Welfare and Development, Environment and
Natural Resources, and the National Irrigation Administration that will be P50.8
billion savings from, just say, 254 (80%) members of the House and I am not yet
computing how much sleaze those vultures in the 24-man Senate pocketed annually
from the funds intended for the coffer.
Those P50.8 billion palm-greasing for the Tongressmen is enough to buy the 12 F-16 Vipers, sanamagan!
And I am not yet talking here
of the 70% of funds lost to corruption in some flood control projects. An
estimated ₱8.8 trillion has been lost over the past decade (2016 to 2025).
These funds, often lost to ghost projects and bribery, are diverted from
essential social services and infrastructure development, significantly
impacting economic growth and poverty reduction efforts, according to East Asia
Forum.
The Philippines consistently ranks low in the 114th out of 180 countries in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index.
God please saves us!
How I wish that in the near future of the Cope Thunder the Filipinos would be proud seeing their F-16, Gripen, or KF-21 does the flyby at the blue-skies of Pampanga with American F-35 Stealth, F-16, or F-22.
Not Super Tucano and FA-50, gall dang!
(WRITER is a political science professor and a political consultant)
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