Kinansela na ng pamahalaan ang pagbili ng 16 military transport helicopter sa Russia dahil sa pangamba na posibleng ipataw sa kanila ng Estados Unidos.
Ito ang kinumpirma ni dating Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana nitong Miyerkules.
Aniya, hindi na nila itinuloy ang transaksyong bumili ng mga nasabing sasakyang-panghimpapawid na nagkakahalaga ng P12.7 bilyon nitong Hunyo 25, ilang araw bago ito bumaba sa puwesto nitong Hunyo 30.
Depensa ni Lorenzana, mismong si dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ang nagpasyang ibasura na ang transaksyon.
“It was canceled because it was the decision of the president to cancel it because of the threat of being sanctioned. On the recommendation of the Secretary of Finance to the Ambassador to the US, he said that it is better for us to terminate the contract because the disadvantage that we will get is more than if we get the choppers,” sabi ni Lorenzana nang kapanayamin ng mga mamamahayag sa Makati City.
“Possible sanction is to freeze the accounts of the Philippines, foreign reserves natin. That would be disadvantageous sa atin. Another one, baka pigilan nila ang remittances ng Filipinos from the US to here or whatever. So many. Secretary Dominguez enumerated ten kinds of sanctions. Mas mabuti na lang itigil natin kasi mas malaki ang damage sa atin ng sanctions kaysa deal na iyan,” dahilan nito.
“We can resume the choppers maybe after some time that the sanction is lifted by the US against Russia. We thought that if we pursue with the purchase, we might not be able to pay the payment because of the sanctions,” dagdag pa nito.
