Philippines Scraps Russia Helicopter Deal, Buying From US Instead: President

Newly-elected Philippine President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. delivers a speech during the inauguration ceremony at the National Museum in Manila, Philippines, on June 30, 2022. Eloisa Lopez/Reuters

The Philippine President said Thursday that his government would buy military helicopters from the United States as an “alternative” to the 16 Russian helicopters that were canceled by the former administration.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte canceled the deal to buy 16 Mi-17 heavy-lift helicopters from Russia before his tenure ended in June over fears of possible U.S. sanctions amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. backed his predecessor’s decision and said that he would not pursue the 12.7 billion pesos ($215.5 million) deal, despite Russia’s demand that the Philippines honor its contract.

“I think it has already been determined. It was already determined by the previous administration that the deal will not carry through, will not go on,” he told reporters, according to his press secretary’s office.

Marcos said that his government has secured “an alternative supply” from the United States through a Polish manufacturer but did not elaborate.

The Philippines will seek to negotiate with Russia to recoup at least a percentage of the 1.9 billion pesos ($32.3 million) downpayment that it has paid for the Russian Mi-17 helicopters, he added.

“The deal, as it stood, maybe at the beginning or in the middle of last year, has already been canceled, and as I said, we have secured another alternative supply for those helicopters that we need,” Marcos said.

The Russian ambassador to Manila, Marat Pavlov, said earlier that Russia has not yet received any formal notification from the Philippine government regarding its decision to terminate the deal.

Philippine Department of Defense spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said Thursday that both sides have been in talks to formally terminate the deal, but neither side has made any further progress, Rappler reported.

“What was basically done was we stated our position and they stated their position, but there is still no concrete way forward,” he said.

US to Extend $100 Million to Offset Downpayment

U.S. Ambassador MaryKay Loss Carlson said Monday that Washington has proposed providing the Philippines with $100 million in foreign military financing to offset the downpayment cost of the now-scrapped chopper deal.

“We have notified Congress of our intent to make available to the Philippines $100 million in military financing, which could be used by the Department of National Defense to offset the helicopter purchase for example,” she said.

“But we would not dictate the modernization efforts within the [Philippine Department of National Defense],” Carlson added.

The United States could have sanctioned the Philippines under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act if its deal with Russia had gone through, according to local media GMA News Online.