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Modernizing PAF

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SO, this is how to prevent the death of more military pilots: Speed up the modernization of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), which is mandated to defend the country’s air space.

No less than Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri has raised the issue, citing the series of accidents involving old military aircraft, especially the PAF’s 50-year-old “Huey” helicopters.

Senator Zubiri, who is from Bukidnon, said this series of accidents, including last week’s helicopter crash in his province, has resulted in several deaths and injuries.

In the January 16 crash, the seven on board, including the two military pilots, died. This prompted PAF authorities to ground all “Huey-type” helicopters for thorough inspection.

Describing the country’s remaining “Huey” helicopters as “old air assets,” Senator Zubiri said “we need to modernize our military hardware and equipment, including our aircraft.”

He expressed the Senate’s readiness to help the armed forces in meeting their needs in 2022 and succeeding years to sustain their efforts in modernizing the military, including PAF.

Modernizing our military is giving our soldiers, who are among the best and bravest in the world, a fighting chance in the battlefield,” according to the senator from impoverished Mindanao.

It is the least, he said, we can do to our highly-dedicated men and women in uniform, who have sworn to protect the country and lay down their lives for it if necessary.

Certainly, our soldiers – Army, Air Force and Navy – have proven this in their many heroic feats.

Zubiri deserves the support of his colleagues in Congress – the Senate and the House of Representatives – and the Filipino people as he champions the cause of the military.