Philippine Navy receives 2 patrol gunboats from Israel

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Navy (PN) has two new missile capable Shaldag Mark V gunboats that will boost the military’s capability to patrol and protect the country’s shores.

The boats, known as the fast attack interdiction craft missiles (FAIC-Ms), were christened at the Naval Shipbuilding Facility Wharf at Fort San Felipe in Cavite City on Monday.

Navy spokesman Capt. Benjo Negranza said the gunboats are part of a fleet of nine Shaldag MK V vessels commissioned from Israel Shipyards Ltd.

Named after late Cpl. Gener Tinangag and late Sgt. Domingo Deluana, who both died in the line of duty in Marawi and Maguindanao, respectively, the two vessels are expected to join the Navy’s Acero-class patrol gunboats.

The FAIC-Ms were described as a “welcome addition to the Navy’s capability to secure vital choke points, key sea lines of communication and littoral zones of the country.”

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who was the keynote speaker during the event, initiated the traditional breaking of a sacrificial bottle on the FAIC-Ms.

The government is working hard to make the Navy self-sufficient to strengthen to country’s defense and security posture and match the dedication and courage of its personnel in protecting the nation’s territory, Zubiri said.

“Despite the much more advanced technologies of some of the foreign actors – or sometimes I say, the bullies – aggressively circling our territory, the men and women of the Navy never back down from their sworn duty to protect the country and the Filipino people,” he said.

“But I also know that with the proper equipment and technology, the Navy can and will serve the country even better. I have no doubt that with these two new patrol gunboats, the Navy will be able to beef up our border patrol and maritime defense, toward the ultimate goal of protecting our sovereignty,” Zubiri added.

Along with the christening of the vessels was the blessing of the newly upgraded Naval Shipbuilding Yard, a project also undertaken in partnership with Israel Shipyards Ltd.

“Similar to their predecessors in the Acero-class patrol gunboats of the (Philippine) Fleet’s Littoral Combat Force, the two new platforms are bearing the names of BRP Gener Tinangag and BRP Domingo Deluana,” Philippine Fleet spokesman Lt. Giovanni Badidles said.

One of the Philippines’ newest warships, the BRP Antonio Luna, opened its doors to Filipinos and foreign navy counterparts at the Changi Naval Base in Singapore last Thursday.

The Naval Task Group is participating in the first ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise being held in Singapore.

Foreign navy personnel, students and Filipinos in Singapore were treated to a tour aboard the warship.

Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Defense and Manpower Zaqy Mohamad visited the Philippine frigate last week.

Mohamad was welcomed by Philippine Navy officers on board BRP Antonio Luna led by its skipper, Capt. Charles Merric Villanueva.

Patrols

The PN is ready to conduct joint patrols with its US counterparts in the West Philippine Sea amid the continued presence of foreign vessels in the area, an official said yesterday.

“We are waiting for official guidance and instructions from the higher headquarters,” Navy chief Vice Admiral Toribio Adaci Jr. told reporters.

Adaci said the official guidance would come from the Department of National Defense, but “there are no final details yet.”

He noted that the planned joint Philippine and US patrols in the disputed sea are still in the planning stages.

“There is no timeline or target date being followed,” Adaci said.

Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez earlier said that the joint patrol operations in the West Philippine Sea may begin in the third quarter of the year.

Adaci said the PN increased the “tempo of patrols” in the West Philippine Sea, with the Western Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in charge.

“We still see the presence of foreign vessels in the area, but we give it to our sailors because they continue to perform their mandate, patrolling the area even if the presence of the other side is there,” Adaci said when asked about the current situation in the West Philippine Sea where Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels remain.

He said the AFP, Philippine Coast Guard and other government agencies have stepped up patrols in the West Philippine Sea under the Marcos administration. – Paolo Romero