Manila Hails Air Force, Lockheed Counter-Trade DealThe Philippine government said Monday that the counter-trade between the Philippine Air Force and American firm Lockheed Martin Corp. is a good arrangement.The bargain, which includes allowing Lockheed to stay on a portion of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) facility in Clark Air Base, Pampanga province, and a counter-trade for the sale to the Air Force of four C-130 military transport and cargo planes, "is a very good deal," presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said in a press briefing. "We'll be getting C-130s which are very expensive," Tiglao said. The spokesman, however, admitted that some of the details of the counter-trade would have to be clarified or some portions of it might be changed "but the essence of the deal will be good for the modernization of the Armed Forces." President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, according to Tiglao, has asked the Philippine Air Force to clarify the issues surrounding the counter-trade. The spokesman said the PAF was asked to "answer point by point" the article by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism which says that the foreign firm has been staying in the PAF facility in Clark without benefit of a legal lease or rental contract. |
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