r/FilipinosAgainstChina

The Philippine Army is reportedly pursuing up to nine additional BrahMos coastal missile batteries, potentially transforming Manila’s limited shore-strike capability into a distributed archipelagic denial network confronting Chinese maritime power.

The prospective acquisition, organised under the Integrated Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile System initiative, would supplement three BrahMos batteries already operated by the Philippine Marine Corps, multiplying launch positions, salvo density, and geographic coverage.

No Philippine authority has publicly confirmed a final nine-battery order, signed contract, or approved quantity, making the reported expansion an evolving requirement whose scale remains dependent upon negotiations, budgeting, and formal authorization.

Nevertheless, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said the Philippines is “in the process of actually procuring more,” while Ambassador Josel F. Ignacio highlighted operational satisfaction and interest in broader industrial cooperation.

If implemented at maximum scale, the programme would move BrahMos from a concentrated Marine capability toward a joint Army-Marine fires architecture spanning Luzon, Palawan, and other strategically exposed approaches across the archipelago.

That force posture supports the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept, which redirects the Armed Forces of the Philippines from internal security toward external defence, dispersed basing, maritime awareness, and survivable long-range precision fires.

Its military significance rests on combining mobile launchers, networked sensors, command vehicles, reloaders, and supersonic missiles into concealed “shoot-and-scoot” units capable of threatening surface forces before rapidly displacing from counterstrike zones.

The reported expansion responds to Chinese water-cannon attacks, blocking, ramming incidents, and sustained pressure around Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal, although missiles cannot independently resolve confrontations occurring below armed-conflict thresholds.

Instead, BrahMos changes escalation calculations by placing valuable Chinese warships and supporting vessels within potential engagement envelopes, forcing commanders to consider dispersion, air defence, electronic warfare, surveillance, and pre-emptive targeting requirements.

For Manila, this represents deterrence through denial rather than naval parity, exploiting island geography to impose operational costs on a materially superior adversary without financing an unaffordable blue-water fleet of comparable size.

For Beijing, additional batteries could complicate access from the Luzon Strait to the western approaches of Palawan, while reinforcing Philippine positions connected to Taiwan contingencies and wider United States alliance planning.

That was the blunt message from Victor Gao, a former Chinese diplomat, as he defended China’s use of water cannons against vessels it considers to have entered waters under Beijing’s control.
Gao compared the situation to someone crossing a fence onto another person’s property, arguing that China believes it has the right to drive intruders away.

“If you want to move into my side of the fence, of course I have legitimacy in driving you out,” Gao said.

He then argued that China has multiple options available but has chosen water cannons, suggesting those on the receiving end should consider themselves fortunate.

“I think you should be very blessed, you should be very happy,” he said.

Gao went further, warning against pushing China into using something beyond water cannons: “Come on, you do not want to try that.”

The comments carry particular weight amid continuing maritime tensions involving China and neighboring countries in the South China Sea, a strategically important waterway in Southeast Asia where competing territorial and maritime claims have repeatedly led to confrontations.

Gao’s remarks represent his position and should not be confused with a legal determination over ownership of disputed waters. China’s sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea overlap with those of several neighboring states and remain heavily contested.

But his choice of words leaves little ambiguity about the message he wanted to send: from his perspective, the water cannon is restraint — and challenging China further could bring a much harsher response.

_Worth Sharing_

Naiwasan ang isang posibleng malaking sakuna matapos matuklasan ng mga operatiba ng Makati City Police Station ang isang live fragmentation grenade, high-powered firearm at mga hinihinalang ilegal na droga sa isang condominium unit sa Barangay Palanan nitong gabi ng Agosto 15.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. accused China of using “disinformation through avoidance,” hitting back at Beijing over its latest statement on the arrest of Chinese nationals in the Philippines and more than 100 Filipinos in China. Full story

🇵🇭 | Japanese arms magazine reported that the Philippine Army has shown interest in acquiring Japanese land-based equipment, such as the Type 16 Maneuver Combat Vehicle (MCV) and the Type 10 Main Battle Tank (MBT). There's a likelihood that it will be exported soon to the Philippine Army. This comes after Israel continues to delay the delivery of the Sabrah Light Tanks, Japan could become an alternative to Israeli-made armored vehicles for the Philippines.

The magazine also reported the Abukuma-class Destroyer Escorts upcoming transfer to the Philippine Navy, after it's retirement in 2027.

https://armsweb.jp/report/7179.html

China’s arrest of more than 100 Filipinos must not be met with silence. Whatever the circumstances of the arrests, every Filipino deserves due process, dignity, and protection from intimidation or coercion. We stand with Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro in defending the rights and welfare of our fellow Filipinos, while firmly upholding the Philippines’ sovereign rights and lawful claims in the West Philippine Sea. 🇵🇭

The fact that so many people are glorifying china (especially genz) is crazy. They think china is a great rich and free country. No country is the good guy.

🇵🇭🇮🇳 | The deliveries of the Philippines' BrahMos Shore-Based Supersonic Anti-ship Missile System is on track in 2026, the deliveries of the BrahMos are ongoing (likely the 3rd battery and more missiles), Amb. Josel F. Ignacio announced.

"The deliveries (of BrahMos) are ongoing, and we are pleased with how the BrahMos project is going, Republic of the Philippines' Ambassador to India, Ambassador Josel F. Ignacio said.

The deliveries of the Philippine Marine Corps' BrahMos Shore-Based Supersonic Anti-ship Missile Missile System wrapped up in 2026, giving the country a mobile, land-based strike option that can strike ships hundreds of kilometers away, with a range of 290 kilometers. The Philippines is the first export customer of the BrahMos Missile System, under a $375 million contract for the supply of three batteries of BrahMos Missile System.

India is offering a follow-up export of the BrahMos Missile System to the Philippines, up to nine batteries. When asked about the planned acquisition of additional BrahMos, Ambassador Ignacio did not give the exact number of batteries to be acquired, or timelines, but he indicated that Manila is keen to build on the cooperation.

https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/philippines-says-brahmos-deliveries-from-india-on-track-eyes-deeper-defence-cooperation20260812181015/

Bureau of Communications Services PH

To further educate the youth about the country’s maritime rights in the WPS, and to help them better understand the importance of environmental conservation, environmental education, and marine science, the DENR has launched a three-part e-book series designed for this purpose.

The first part of the e-book, entitled “The Wonderful WPS”, introduces the country’s marine biodiversity and the WPS.

The cameras on the K3 Scout surveillance drones had components made in China which were secretly transmitting information to a device in the country.
News source- The Telegraph