“The Filipino people must not be made accomplices to the slaughter of Palestinians.”

MANILA – The same weapons that slaughter Palestinian women and children in Gaza are still being procured by the Philippine Army.

At a congressional budget hearing, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said that no new contracts have been signed with Israeli-based firms. However, he admitted that the Philippine Army continues to buy munitions from Israeli firm Elbit Systems under existing contracts. Last August 11, the company was awarded a P248-million notice of award for supplying 100 rounds of high explosive (HE) 155mm precision-guided munition (PGM).

Elbit Systems is the primary provider and largest Israeli manufacturer, producing 85 percent of Israel Defense Force’s land-based equipment and drones. 

The death toll in Gaza since the launch of Israel’s genocidal war in October 2023 has surpassed 65,000, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. But experts said that the number could be higher.

For the solidarity network Philippine-Palestine Friendship Association (PPFA), this continuous procurement of arms from the Israel-based company is an active participation in the global war economy. 

“Secretary Teodoro’s claim that the government is stuck with prior arrangements and that this is a lesson learned is a slap in the face to the thousands of Filipinos displaced, terrorized, and killed by the very weapons he defends,” said Dr. Delen De la Paz, PPFA’s president.

PPFA cited military operations that carried out weapons supplied by Israel, which endanger civilian communities and environment:

• Hermes drone-assisted attacks displaced 236 families in Balbalan, Kalinga in March 2023.
• Shelling and drone strikes killed civilians and resulted in forced evacuations in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.
• Aerial and artillery bombardments that affected over 17,000 people in Mindoro province from April to May 2023.
• Communities in Western Visayas and Samar endured repeated artillery attacks from August to September 2023.
• Forests in Surigao del Sur were reportedly destroyed by drone strikes.

These attacks were reportedly carried out using SPYDER missiles, Hermes drones, ATMOS 2000 artillery, M113 mortars, Guarani armored vehicles, FAIC-M missile boats, and Sabrah light tanks—all linked to Israel.

“Right now, we are just continuing the past contracts. We have no new contracts with any Israel-based companies,” Teodoro said at the hearing. “We have existing systems that we have to continue to use dahil naabutan na natin at hindi pwede i-scrap.”

During the deliberation, Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co urged the department to exit from the Israeli-based contract, emphasizing the gravity of ongoing genocide in Gaza.

“The precision-guided munitions and other materials from the Elbit system is the same system used to kill children, the elderly population, and thousands of civilians in Palestine,” Co said.

The United Nations’ Commission on Inquiry (COI) said in a report that Israel is deliberately killing Palestinian civilians in Gaza since October 2023, committing genocide which is prohibited under the Genocide Convention.

In a report published on September 16, the Commission stated that the Israel is accountable for their direct commitment to genocide, their failure to prevent genocide, and punish those who perpetrated it. It said that while the analysis is limited to Gaza since October 7, it raises serious concerns that the specific intent to destroy the Palestinians extended to the rest of Palestinian territory including West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Read: Right(s) Up: Israel’s war crimes violate Genocide Convention and International Humanitarian Law

“These are not accidents. These are the fruits of deliberate procurement strategies, executed with full knowledge of their consequences,” De la Paz said in a statement. 

She stressed that Teodoro’s admission that there are no new contracts with Israeli-based firms is a smokescreen as the Philippine army still procures under existing arrangements. “This is complicity with genocide. It takes public exposure and legislative pressure for these deals to even be acknowledged.”

Echoing the same recommendations made by Co during the house deliberation, PPFA called for an immediate end to all arms deals with Israel. “The Filipino people must not be made accomplices to the slaughter of Palestinians. We must break the chain of militarized oppression here in the Philippines, in Palestine, and in every front where people fight for liberation and justice,” PPFA said. (DAA)