DND plans to ask for add’tl funds for intel

The DND chief is expected to face the House of Representatives within the month for the annual budget hearing. The defense department’s budget for 2016 is PHP126.64 billion. (Photo: Department of National Defense – Philippines/ Facebook)

MANILA, Aug. 11— The Department of National Defense (DND) plans to seek additional funding from Congress to further beef up the military’s various intelligence networks, DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said late Thursday.

Lorenzana , however, declined to detail the plan, including the amount needed as the department was still determining the prices of equipment to be acquired for intelligence works.

“We are trying to get the exact figure (because) we would like to acquire (these) equipment for our intelligence gathering,” Lorenzana said in Filipino.

These includes long-range drones which can fly day-and-night missions and facial recognition devices which the military presently lacks.

The DND chief is expected to face the House of Representatives within the month for the annual budget hearing. The defense department’s budget for 2016 is PHP126.64 billion.

And while the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has received two intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance Cessna 208Bs from the US, the DND chief said more similar equipment were needed to further beef up the country’s ISR capabilities.

Also, the additional funds will allow the Armed Forces to further develop its human intelligence assets in the ground, allowing ground units to detect and neutralize various threat groups.