Duterte believes F-16 purchase “a blunder”

by Chito A. Fuentes

PASAY CITY - Mayor Rodrigo Duterte believes the Philippines committed a mistake when it purchased two jet fighter planes. 

Duterte gave his take on the acquisition as a side comment during a speech before the joint meeting of two JCI chapters. 

“The decision to buy two F-16s is really a blunder,” Duterte declared as he discussed the China problem.

The F-16 is a 1974 American multi-role jet fighter.

Duterte questioned the acquisition of the two fighter planes, noting that it would be no match to Chinese airpower.

“How would it help?” he asked.

Duterte said it would have been better if the Aquino administration acquired gunboats instead.

“(The gunboats) are fast, mobile that can be deployed everywhere, at saka may firepower,” he added.

Duterte, a licensed pilot, pointed to the futility of even just considering an armed confrontation with one of the world’s superpowers.

“We cannot go to war, we cannot fight China,” the mayor emphatically declared to stress the obvious.

Duterte believes diplomacy has a better chance to arrive at a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

The mayor also reiterated his contention that the Philippine must not rely too much on the support of the United States.

“America would not die for us,” he stressed.

Duterte said that if the US was really serious in protecting Philippine interest against China, it would have “deployed the 7th fleet in front of that atoll” when work on the contested structures was only starting.

Instead, he said the US did not make a move.

“Now it’s there. (The US) allowed it to be finished,” he added.

Duterte said the problem with China is one of the headaches that the next president would have to do deal with, one reason why he does not want to run.

While Duterte maintains that he is not interested, his grasp of the Chinese problem, among other pressing issues, adds fuel to the fire to the clamor for him to run.

Duterte’s reputation as a problem-solver is one of his advantages over other contenders in a country where so many problems remain unsolved despite campaign promises to do so. (CHITO A. FUENTES)