PHL’s fighter jets escort PNoy’s flight over Polillo island

The country's two fighter jets escorted PR 001, the flight carrying President Benigno Aquino III and his official delegation from the US, over Polillo island as the aircraft made its approach before landing at the NAIA on Friday morning.

"The fighter jets took off from Clark Field air base. They made contact with the presidential flight at 6:37 am which eventually landed at 7:05 am," Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a statement.

"The two jets were delivered last November 2015 as part of the AFP Modernization program. Delivery of the remainder of the full squadron will be completed in 2017," he added.

In a news briefing, Coloma made clear that PR 001 wasn't escorted due to any threat on the president especially with the ongoing dispute over territories in the South China Sea.

He said it was common practice in other countries to give escort honors to returning heads of state.

Coloma said it was the first in a long while that it was possible for the Philippines to practice the same.

"Ito namang ganitong pagsalubong, it’s a common practice dahil Commander-in-Chief ang Pangulo, and this is also practiced in other states na parang nagbibigay-pugay at nagbibigay ng escort honors kapag pumapasok na ‘yung kanyang sasakyan sa air space ng ating bansa," Coloma said.

"Pero pansinin natin, ito naman ‘yung unang pagkakataon na pwede itong maisagawa dahil nga sa pinakamahabang panahon ay wala tayong kahit isang fighter jet," he added.

Coloma said that Aquino aggressively pursued the acquisition of the fighter jets under the modernization program.

"At dahil din sa pagpupursigi ng Pangulo, kanyang determinasyon na mapalawak ‘yung AFP Modernization Program, nakapag-procure tayo ng isang buong squadron ng FA-50 fighter jets mula sa South Korea at ‘yan na nga ‘yung initial delivery," Coloma said.

"‘Yung kumpletong pagbubuo ng isang full squadron matatamo natin ‘yan by 2017," he added.

ASEAN-US Summit

Aquino came from the US where he attended the ASEAN-US Summit hosted by US President Barack Obama in Sunnylands. He also met with US business leaders and members of the Filipino community in Los Angeles.

China deployed a missile system at Woody Island, one of the disputed territories in the Paracels, as Obama and the ASEAN leaders discussed the overlapping claims over territories in the South China Sea.

At the close of the summit on Tuesday, Obama said he and the leaders of Southeast Asian countries discussed the need to ease tensions in the South China Sea, and agreed that any territorial disputes there should be resolved peacefully and through legal means.

But a joint statement agreed on after a two-day summit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the Sunnylands retreat in California did not include the specific mentions Washington had been seeking regarding China and its assertive pursuit of territory in the South China Sea. —NB, GMA News