(Bloomberg) -- Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday signed a law that seeks to develop the local defense industry by wooing foreign manufacturers of weapons to set up shop in the Southeast Asian nation.
The new legislation, called Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act, will make the Philippines less dependent on supply chains and interests of “other parties,” Marcos said in a livestreamed speech at the signing ceremony.
“It’s a logical move forward for a country that finds itself at the fulcrum of geopolitical shifts and volatilities,” he said.
Marcos enacted the law at a time when the Philippines is prioritizing external defense amid lingering tensions with China in the South China Sea. The two nations’ vessels have been involved in tense skirmishes in the disputed sea as both assert overlapping claims to the key waterway.
The law also gives incentives including tax breaks to manufacturers who will establish assembly of defense equipment in the Philippines, according to Marcos. The measure will bolster the nation’s economic growth, he added.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
