Manila, Feb. 14 -- The Philippines has the sovereign and inherent right to upgrade its defense capabilities whenever it deems appropriate

A ranking National Security Council (NSC) official thus called China's criticism of Philippine efforts to upgrade capabilities "deceptive" as the Philippines has not commented on Chinese missiles inventory.

"We never criticized, we never commented even on their continued improvement of their offensive capabilities. So we feel that it is deceptive on the part of the People's Republic of China to comment on our right to improve our defense capabilities and position while they continue to improve their offensive capabilities," NSC Assistant Director Jonathan Malaya said in a press briefing Friday.

The N...