Philippines and weapons of mass destruction

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Weapons of mass destruction
By type
By country
Proliferation
Treaties

The

Philippine Constitution
explicitly forbids the presence of nuclear weapons in the Philippines.

The Philippines, as a ratifier to the Biological Weapons Convention, bans all production and import of biological weapons in the country. It also signed the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, thus promoting a nuclear-weapons-free Southeast Asia.

Nuclear energy and weapons

Philippine Foreign secretary Alan Peter Cayetano signing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

The Philippine nuclear program started in 1958 with the creation of the

accidentally exploded, the new president Corazon Aquino decided not to operate the plant[1][4] due to the proximity to a major geological fault and to then dormant stratovolcano Mt. Pinatubo
which erupted in 1991.

In 2016, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, a former defence secretary under the Marcos administration, claimed that the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was intended to be used in a development of a nuclear weapons program. While he maintained that the facility's main purpose was for electricity generation he alleged that the nuclear power plant's second purpose is for nuclear weapons production. Enrile speculated that if the Philippines had successfully developed nuclear weapons, China would be deterred in pursuing aggressive claims in the South China Sea. Enrile later admitted that he was not an expert on the mechanics and technology of the production of nuclear weapons.[5]

Beginning in December 1957, the

Cubi Point, and by at least 1977, no nuclear weapons remained in the country.[10][9]

Currently, however, there is a movement in the country that aims to stop construction of nuclear power plants in the country and terminate American military presence in the country, which were believed to house nuclear weapons on Philippine soil.

Despite provocations by

Benigno Simeon Aquino III disagreed on letting the Philippines have nuclear weapons.[11]
He justified it from the lack of government funds to create such weapon, coupled with the fact that having such weapon would only escalate tensions between the two countries.

In 2019,

Non-Proliferation Treaty.[13]

The Philippines signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on 20 September 2017, and ratified it on 18 February 2021.[14]

In 2024, three people were arrested for illegally storing up to 85 kilograms of depleted Uranium-238 and Uranium-235 in separate locations in Pasay, Mandaue and Cagayan de Oro as part of a smuggling syndicate. Some of the uranium was discovered inside residential areas.[15]

Biological and chemical weapons

Rebels from the communist New People's Army were accused of using biological weapons against the Armed Forces of the Philippines in eastern Mindanao, but they refuted such a claim.[16]

The Philippines signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993.

In 2025, President Bongbong Marcos signed into law Republic Act No. 12174, prohibiting the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons in the Philippines.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c Valdez-Fabros, Corazon (October 16, 1998). "The continuing struggle for a nuclear-free Philippines". Wise International. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  2. ^ ABS-CBN News. (2007). ABS-CBN Interactive Retrieved 2007-06-13. [dead link]
  3. ^ "Letter of Instruction No. 957, s. 1979 | GOVPH". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  4. ISBN 978-1-56324-909-9
    .
  5. ^ Rosario, Ben (14 February 2016). "PH planned to produce nuclear weapon – Enrile". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  6. ^ "US secretly stored nuclear weapons in PH and Marcos knew about it, top secret memo shows". Archived from the original on 2016-12-19. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  7. ^ Burr, William (18 August 2006). "How Many and Where Were the Nukes?". National Security Archive.
  8. ^ "History of the Custody and Deployment of Nuclear Weapons, July 1945 through September 1977" (PDF). Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense. February 1978. p. B4. Page 237 of the PDF (page B-4 of the original report), above "Puerto Rico" with its name redacted, is the table for weapons deployed in the Philippines.
  9. ^ a b Norris, Robert S.; Arkin, William M.; Burr, William (November 1999). "Where They Were". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
  10. ^ "Removal of U.S. Nuclear Weapons from Taiwan and the Philippines". Nautilus Institute. 19 July 1999. Archived from the original on 2009-05-07.
  11. ^ Aquino thumbs down nuclear weapons for AFP
  12. ^ "Want to stand up to China? Develop nuclear weapons, Enrile says". Archived from the original on 2019-05-23. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  13. ^ Nepomuceno, Priam (21 April 2019). "PH unlikely to develop nuclear weapons". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  14. ^ "UNODA Treaties". treaties.unoda.org.
  15. ^ Gomez, Herbie (12 December 2024). "NBI-led uranium raids expose health, security oversight gaps". Rappler. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  16. ^ "Filipino Rebels Deny Biological Warfare Charge - Analysis - NTI".
  17. ^ "Marcos Jr. signs law banning chemical weapons". ABS-CBN. April 25, 2025. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

See also

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