The annual cost to buy and operate an F-35A is only $7.9 Million

According to Lockheed Martin, the estimated price of an F-35A by 2018 will be $85 Million.

As per the latest Pentagon estimate, the total cost of operating an F-35 for 55 years is $351 Million ($857 Billion/ 2,443 planes).

This means that the total cost of buying and operating an F-35A for 55 years will be $436 Million.

And the annual cost of owning and operating an F-35A for 55 years will only be $7.9 Million.

For a squadron of 12 F-35As, that amounts to $94.8 Million per year. 

With a 2016 annual budget of $62.5 Billion, can the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) not afford to spare $94.8 Million for a Squadron of F-35As?

By golly, that's only 0.15% of the GRP's annual budget!

And we have not even taken into account the wide disparity in Labor Cost Rates between the US and the Philippines...