Philippines Retract From Russian Military Deal To Avoid American Sanctions
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Roshan Amiri
- . July 28, 2022
- . Update: July 29, 2022 1:33 pm
Philippines– Everyone is reeling under pressure of powerful nations like the US and Russia. Philippines is no exception who has had to terminate its ongoing negotiations to buy 16 military transport helicopters from Russia in fear that the US might genuinely sanction the small island nation.
The Filipino former defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana took to the media to state his country’s fear and as to why he had decided to cancel the purchase of the Mi-17 helicopters for 12.7 billion pesos (or $227 million) in a decision made in June and authorized by then-President Rodrigo Duterte before their terms in office concluded on June 30.
Sanctions were on the anvil for Manila if the deal went through, which now stands terminated and Russia can’t do much about it as of now. They might not take the rejection too easily and retaliation is a natural result, political analysts believe.
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Manila may have been subject to sanctions under a federal statute known as the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. In addition to this, underneath the helicopter purchase deal, which was inked last year’s November, Sovtechnoexport of Russia was supposed to deliver the first batch of the multipurpose helicopters in around two years
In March, the Ukrainian onslaught didn’t seem to be reason to affect the purchase and a first installment was already paid. But now that the deal has gone ‘kaput’ there is unclarity of whether the amount paid could be refunded. The Russian-made helicopters could have been used for combat, search and rescue operations, and medical evacuations in the Southeast Asian archipelago, which is often lashed by typhoons and other natural disasters, Philippine officials said.
Former President Duterte under whose leadership the deal was cemented has been a huge critic of Putin and his war tactics. The retracement from the strong admiration could win Manila points from the US and enmity with Russia at a later date.
