Lorenzana: PH ‘can’t afford’ US attack choppers

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana maintained on Wednesday that the country had rejected an offer from the United States for the sale of its attack helicopters because they were too expensive.

The rejection had nothing to do with the termination of the Visiting Forces a=Agreement, he added.

“We cannot afford [them]. We only set aside P13 billion. If we buy attack helicopters at those prices, we can only get one or two [from the US]. We are shopping around … [so] we can buy more aircraft [within the budget],” Lorenzana said.

—Jeannette I. Andrade