recoup of P2-b payment for

DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Monday said the government is studying how it could recover its P2-billion downpayment on a cancelled order for Russian military helicopters.

At the same time, Teodoro said the government was working on a reorganization for the Department of National Defense (DND) to make it more responsive to “evolving threats.”

Teodoro said the Department of National Defense (DND), in collaboration with the Office of the Solicitor General and other agencies, is looking at the best options in getting back the funds within the year.

The Philippines had agreed to pay P12.7 billion for the 16 Russian Mi-17 helicopters, as it sought to modernize its military hardware.

But the United States and its allies intervened, imposing sanctions on Moscow in the wake of the Russian assault on Ukraine in 2022. The sanctions sought to cut off Russia from the global financial system and choking off funds available to Moscow to finance it conquest of Ukraine.

Philippine ambassador to Washington Jose Romualdez had said the termination of contract on the Russian choppers was due to “the Ukrainian war.”

Romualdez said Manila was cautious on getting on the wrong side of a US law passed in 2017 that frowns upon any country doing business with Russia’s in-