The Philippine Army will be getting a short-range air defense missile system as part of the military's effort to fortify its territorial defense.

In a press conference in Taguig City on Monday, Army Chief Lt. Gen. Roy Galido said the acquisition of the short-range air defense missile was in the appropriation of the Philippine Army in 2024.

"The short-range, well, it is already in our appropriations, meaning in the budget of the Philippine Army, which was listed last year, that the Army will acquire short-range air defense systems. And this is now in operation, meaning the mechanism to acquire it is being undertaken," he said.

"The Army is venturing into identifying platforms or capabilities that would enable the Army to project our force within the sovereignty of the country, which is the 200 Exclusive Economic Zone, in coordination or in support to the Navy's and the Philippine Air Force capability development," he added.

Galido said the Philippine Army "haven't identified a specific brand" of missile system that they would like to procure as he denied reports about the $200 million worth of short-range missile system that India expects to sell to the Philippines this year.

"We haven't identified a specific brand, but we go for the platform and its capability. And all of these are still under review and being tested. The template, or I would say, would be based on the outcome of the first project the Navy has ventured into, the BrahMos. So we will take it from there because all of these are still a work in progress," he said.

Before the end of 2024, Galido also announced the Philippine Army's plan to acquire a Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile system.

Galido announced his plan to acquire missile systems despite China's repeated opposition to the presence of the US MRC or Typhon missile system in the country.

The US MRC arrived in the country in previous year to help the Filipino soldiers trained and become familiar with the new weapon system.

Despite the need to acquire missile systems for territorial defense, Galido admitted that the military is "hindered by financial capability".

"We do need all of this and we want all of this. However, we are always hindered by (our) financial capability. As mentioned by the Chief of Staff, we're venturing into options because we just cannot commit to a project when we don't know how to sustain it," he said.

"We cannot just commit without, again, the biggest aspect of it is the sustainment, meaning our capability and capacity to acquire it," he said. Robina Asido/DMS