PH Embassy defends US arms sales to Philippines

The Philippine Embassy in the United States has criticized groups for politicizing the sale of American military assets, including attack helicopters, to Manila.

“It is unfortunate that certain groups seek to take advantage of the issue to advance their own political agenda, even to the detriment of the long-standing alliance between the Philippines and the US,” the embassy said in a statement.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch has called on the United States not to sell weapons to the Philippines for supposedly committing human-rights violations against communist rebels, Muslim separatists, noncombatants and other civilians.

The embassy defended the arms sales, saying they were part of the Philippines’ military modernization program. —Jerome Aning