Military to send Navy peacekeepers to Haiti

By Alexis Romero

Philippine Star, Tuesday, September 13, 2011

MANILA, Philippines - The military would send for the first time an all-Navy contingent to the United Nations peacekeeping force in Haiti.

Armed Forces public affairs chief Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said the 155-strong contingent would leave on Sept. 20 and stay in Haiti for six months.

A sendoff ceremony was held yesterday at Camp O’Donnell in Tarlac in honor of the team, the country’s 14th contingent to Haiti.

Marine Col. George Fernandez would head the peacekeeping team, which consists of 12 officers and 143 enlisted personnel.

The contingent members came from the different units of the Navy and were the first team to train at Camp O’Donnell.

Burgos said this is the second time that the military is sending a peacekeeping team from only one major service.

The first time was in May when the Armed Forces sent a 327-man all-Army contingent to Liberia. The members were troops of the 76th Infantry Battalion led by Col. Cornelio Valencia.

The peacekeeping unit would conduct humanitarian operations that would benefit those affected by the conflict.

“The deployment of contingents to other countries is our contribution to the United Nations as it continues to perform its role in the advocacy of international peace and solidarity,” Burgos said.

The peacekeepers would also support the Haitian government in promoting the rule of law and human rights and protecting the vulnerable sectors.

“I will successfully accomplish this noble mission by employing our most important assets who are specialized, disciplined, competent and highly trained personnel to perform administrative and logistics services,” Fernandez said in a statement.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. said the military would continue to support UN’s peacekeeping efforts even if the Philippines has its own security concerns.

“We have gained a lot on peace keeping which is not apart from the efforts that the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) is doing to uphold peace and security within our country,” Oban said.

“Even though we have our own concerns of internal security, our country remains steadfastly supportive of the commitment for world peace, and continues to join other democratic countries in this venture,” he added.

The Philippines is a signatory of the UN charter and has been sending peacekeeping teams to Haiti since 2004. It is also sending peacekeepers to Liberia and the Golan Heights.

www.philstar.com

19 newly promoted AFP generals take oath

By Alexis Romero

Philippine Star, Tuesday, September 6,2011

MANILA, Philippines - Nineteen military generals formally received their promotions yesterday and vowed to perform their duties faithfully as members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The generals took their oath in Malacañang yesterday morning and were given military honors in a separate ceremony in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. The ceremony was followed by a traditional courtesy call on AFP chief Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr.

“I am proud of all the newly promoted officials, for each of them deserves the commendation that they will receive. I just hope that their citation will go hand in hand with the promise to be a better soldier and officer of the AFP,” he said.

Leading the generals who took their oath was AFP deputy chief of staff Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara, who received his third star.

Alcantara, a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class ‘79, is reportedly one of the strong contenders to be the next AFP chief. He is a classmate of Oban, who is scheduled to retire from the service in December.

Prior to his assumption of the post of deputy chief of staff, Alcantara was the commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division based in Maguindanao. As division commander, Alcantara was among those who supervised the implementation of martial law in Maguindanao in the wake of the Nov. 23, 2009 Ampatuan massacre, which left 58 people dead.

Other posts he has held include training and doctrine command chief, AFP Command Center chief, 702nd Infantry Brigade commander, assistant chief of staff for personnel, and assistant chief of staff for civil military operations.

Also among the generals who took their oath is Brig. Gen. Caesar Ronnie Ordoyo, who has been designated as chief of the Intelligence Service. He is a former commander of the Army’s 301st Infantry Brigade and deputy commander of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command.

Also promoted was Maj. Gen. Noel Coballes, the commander of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division in Zamboanga del Sur. He oversees the operations against the New People’s Army and the Abu Sayyaf in the Zambonga peninsula region. He is a member of PMA Class 1980.

Other generals who took their oath were Brig. Gen. Reynaldo Torres, chief of the AFP dental service; Rear Adm. Robert Balanon Jr.; Rear Adm. Armando Guzman; Maj. Gen. Joel Marayag; Brig. Gen. Danilo Fabian; Brig. Gen. Teodoro Cirilo Torralba III; Commo. Jose Renan Suarez; Commo. Jesus Millan; Brig. Gen. Edgar Fallorina; Commo. Leopoldo Alano, Brig. Gen. Pedro Biasbas; Commo. Romeo Santiago Nebres; Brig. Gen. Augusto Tolentino; Brig. Gen. Leonido Bongcawil; Brig. Gen. Leo Cresente Ferrer and reservist Brig. Gen. Rufino Tiangco.

www.philstar.com

More WHEC vessels for military

By Elena Aben

Manila Bulletib, Sunday, September 5, 2011

MANILA, Philippines — Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo SL Oban Jr. said Saturday that the military expects to acquire another weather high-endurance cutter (WHEC) vessel, like the modern Hamilton-class BRP Gregorio Del Pilar early next year, as he emphasized the military’s capability development is not geared towards any country, but to protect the country’s resources.

In an interview at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, following the retirement ceremony for AFP Inspector General Vice Admiral Mario Catacutan, Oban said the AFP is working on the acquisition of two additional Hamilton class ships, adding that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is optimistic it will get the second WHEC vessel for the Navy early next year.

But he admitted a lot of work still needs to be done to ensure that two more Hamilton class vessels of the US Coast Guard (USCG) will go to the AFP.

It will be recalled that the Navy’s first Hamilton ship from the USCG, renamed as BRP Gregorio Del Pilar, and now the largest ship in the Philippine Navy arrived last month with President Aquino leading the welcome ceremony. Also present during the event was US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr.

At hte welcome ceremony for the newest member of the Philippine Fleet, the President bared a kist military equipment to be acquired for the fulfillment of the military capability upgrade and modernization program during his term.

Included in the President’s list of military equipment programmed to be acquired to enhance the capability of the Army, Air Force, and Navy are lead-in jet trainers and “similar weather heavy- endurance cutter.”

www.mb.com.ph

Military set to acquire 2 more Hamilton-class cutters

By Jaime Laude,

Pilippine Star, Sunday, September 5, 2011

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Navy is set to beef up its fleet with two more Hamilton-class cutters from the United States, one of which may be delivered early next year, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. said Friday.

“We hope that we can get the second one probably early next year,” Oban said.

The Navy recently acquired its first Hamilton-class cutter, rechristened BRP Gregorio del Pilar.

Now the Navy’s flagship, it is undergoing refurbishing and is being equipped with new surveillance and electronic systems at the Sangley Point Naval Base in Cavite.

Oban said high-level talks between the AFP and the US government on boosting the Navy’s capabilities are underway.

Navy chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama, for his part, said a proposal for the acquisition of two more Hamilton-class vessels has already been submitted to the US government.

We have already forwarded our proposal signifying our intention to acquire two more Hamilton-class cutters," Pama said.

www.philstar.com

Hamilton icon of AFP’s capability upgrade

By William Depasupil
The Manila Times, Monday, August 22, 2011

THE Philippine Navy’s largest and most modern ship, the Hamilton class US Coast Guard cutter, now known as the BRP (Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas) Gregorio del Pilar, symbolizes the country’s resolve and determination to defend its territorial integrity, according to Navy flag-officer in command Vice Admiral Alexander Pama.

Pama disclosed Sunday that the 3,390-ton warship is now anchored at the Manila Bay after a 45-day journey from Coast Guard island in Alameda, San Francisco, California.

“This will be an icon to the revival of the capability upgrade of our Armed Forces,” he said. “This is the symbol of our resolve and determination to protect what is ours.”

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr., earlier said that the cutter would be used for multi-mission operations such as search and rescue, and maritime security patrols, particularly in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) to protect the country’s interests that include the Malampaya Gas Project in the waters of Palawan near the dispute Spratly group of islands.

The ship, even at 46 years old, is now the biggest and most modern in the Philippine Navy’s inventory. It was launched on December 18, 1965, commissioned to the US Coast Guard March 18, 1967 and decom-missioned on March 28, 2011.

It was acquired by the Philippine government at a transfer cost of P450 million, minus the air surface search radar, close-in weapons system and secondary 25-mm gun system.

But Pama said that even if the Hamilton is already old, it is still well-maintained and capable of enduring high weather that can make it sustain longer patrolling at sea.

“It’s not a question of age but the capability of the ship. One of our problems before is our lack of patrol ship that could endure high weather and can sustain longer patrolling at sea,” he said.

“This ship has proven its capability of crossing the Pacific Ocean and I think there’s no other place in the Philippines that has bigger waves [than the Pacific Ocean],” Pama added.

According to him, the ship is now going through the usual customs, immigration and quarantine inspection before it would be dry-docked for at least a month for repainting from white to the Navy’s official gray color. Some minor repairs and fitting of additional facilities and equipment will also be done.

Pama said that the ship has not been formally commissioned yet to the Navy and its name BRP Gregorio del Pilar is not yet final pending approval from the Office of the President.

“The name BRP Gregorio del Pilar is only a provisional name. It still needs to pass through proper procedure until it is approved by the President. It is only then that it can be commissioned and given its final name,” Pama added referring to President Benigno Aquino 3rd.

www.manilatimes.net

AFP readies P40-B shopping list

By Alexis Romero with Jess Diaz, Tuesday, June 21, 2011

MANILA, Philippines - The military is preparing its shopping list for a P40-billion equipment upgrading program over the next five years, with the Philippine Navy expected to receive a huge chunk of the funds because of high equipment cost.

Brig. Gen. Roy Deveraturda, chief of the Armed Forces Modernization Program Management Office, said in an interview yesterday that the military has identified priority projects for the next five years, which are awaiting approval. He said that in procuring new equipment, it would be considered that the military’s focus is still internal security operations.

Navy chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama said they are still discussing the proper allocation of funds for each major service but confirmed that the Navy will get a huge share of the funds,

“We cannot deny that some of our equipment are old. We need them to fulfill our mandate as provided by the constitution,” Pama said in an interview with radio station dzRH.

Out of the 53 patrol ships in the Navy’s inventory, only 26 are operational. These patrol ships are aged at an average of 36.4 years old. The larger vessels— like the Mine Sweeper Frigates and patrol craft escorts— are 66 and 67 years old respectively.

Only three of the seven Navy transport vessels—all 15 years old— are operational. The non-operational vessels are 64 years old.

Only four of the 10 Navy auxiliary ships are operational while only 23 of the 32 small crafts—all of which are 21.3 years old— are operational.

On Sunday, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the government is prepared to implement a P40-billion military modernization project over the next five years starting in 2012 to secure the country’s territory in the West Philippine Sea.

He said the government plans to allot P8 billion annually for the next five years for the modernization program to protect the country’s territorial integrity. The P8 billion annual funding for 2012 to 2016 is higher than the current modernization outlay of P5 billion.

Deveraturda said the higher modernization budget would fasttrack their capability upgrade program.

“It would be a big help (to our modernization efforts). We can assure you that these funds would be used properly. Our records are open and anyone can participate in the procurement process,” he said.

AFP chief Gen Eduardo Oban said the military’s baseline capability should be improved because of the developments in the West Philippine Sea.

The AFP Modernization Act, which took effect in 1995, has mandated the military to modernize its assets in 15 years with a total fund of P331 billion. 16 years later, the military is still suffering from lack of equipment and ageing assets. Of the P331 billion mandated by the law for expenditure, only about P33 billion have been spent. Earlier, President Aquino said more than P11 billion had been allotted for the purchase of modern equipment for the military this year.

\The funding for these assets would come from the P8 billion proceeds from the Malampaya natural gas project in Palawan while P3 billion would come from the modernization outlay.

The AFP expects the implementation of 13 military capability upgrade projects worth more than P5 billion this year.

PhilStar.com

Rajah Humabon to stay within Philippine borders

By AFP

Manila Times, Monday, June 20,2011

The chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Sunday assured that the country’s naval flagship would not go beyond the country’s 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, as it prepares to deploy near disputed islands and surrounding waters in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Despite apparent muscle-flexing by claimant-countries to the contested areas, Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. said that he remained optimistic that the territorial dispute would be solved peacefully and avoid a potential armed confrontation.

“We hope it will not reach that point,” Oban told reporters when asked if sending the Philippine Navy flagship Rajah Humabon to the West Philippine Sea could stoke clashes.

He said that the flagship would be confined to its maritime boundaries and would not stray into international waters.

“I am optimistic that whatever conflicts may arise there will be settled peacefully and diplomatically, although what I am saying is that we will have to [also] enforce maritime laws within our 200-nautical mile [exclusive economic] zone,” Oban added.

Manila said that it would deploy the Rajah Humabon to the West Philippine Sea on Friday, a day after China announced that one of its maritime patrol vessels was also scheduled to pass through the area.

Both countries, as well as Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam have competing claims to potentially resource-rich areas in the disputed territories and surrounding waters, particularly Spratly Islands.

China claims the entire South China Sea as its historical fishing grounds, but the Philippines argues that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea states that a country has exclusive economic rights over waters that fall within 200 nautical miles of its continental shelf.

The Philippines’ zone overlaps in some places with those of claims by the other claimants to the Spratlys.

Commissioned in the Philippine Navy in 1980, the Rajah Humabon was a former US Navy frigate that served during World War II and is one of the world’s oldest warships.

Tensions in the long-running dispute over the area flared in recent months on allegations by the Philippines and Vietnam that China has become increasingly aggressive in staking its territorial claims.

The Philippines accused China this month of sending naval vessels to intimidate rival claimants around the Spratly Islands, as well as of installing buoys and posts in nearby areas.

Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario met with his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) also on Sunday and called on them to have a common stand against China over the overlapping claims.

Asean groups the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar., Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Hanoi’s cause was pushed further forward also on Sunday by up to 100 Vietnamese who rallied outside the Chinese Embassy in the Vietnamese capital for the third weekend in a row over the escalating maritime row with Beijing in the West Philippine Sea.

The group sang patriotic songs, chanted and carried signs such as “China stop violating the territorial waters of Vietnam,” referring to the dispute over the sovereignty of two archipelagos—Paracel and Spratlys—in the South China Sea.

“The East Sea is not the village pond of China. I come here to show my patriotism,” said one protester, who asked not to be named, using the Vietnamese name for the sea.

Demonstrations are not common in authoritarian Vietnam, where small land-rights rallies are tolerated but advocates of other political causes risk arrest, yet anti-China sentiment recently brought people to the streets.

Police at Sunday’s rally, who outnumbered the crowd, noted their patriotism but told them through loudhailers, “Your gathering here may complicate the situation, influencing diplomatic relations between the two countries.”

The United States and Vietnam also on Friday jointly called for freedom of navigation and rejected the use of force in the sea.

After talks in Washington, the former war foes said that “the maintenance of peace, stability, safety and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea is in the common interests of the international community.”

manilatimes.net

Navy removes China marker, invokes 'active defense'

GMA news, Thursday, June 16, 2011

After dismantling a China marker at a disputed reef in the West Philippine Seas, the Philippine Navy on Thursday vowed to maintain its "active defense" in the area to prevent other parties from placing another marker there.

Navy flag officer-in-command Rear Admiral Alexander Pama said they have a mandate to protect the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile (370 km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

On Wednesday, the military said it removed a marker found at the Boxall Reef, which is about 125 nautical miles from Palawan's western shoreline.

“Tuluy-tuloy sa pag-iikot at pagpapatrolya ang Navy, kasama ang Philippine Coast Guard... I-emphasize natin ito sa loob ng ating exclusive economic zone. Base sa mandato namin ating pinapangalagaan ang lugar na sinasabi na atin at alinsunod doon sa EEZ natin," he said in an interview on dzBB radio.

He also noted Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. had ordered a policy of “active defense" where the Philippines will not trigger tension while defending its territory.

Pama said this means that while the Philippines will not start any conflict, neither will it run away if it is “attacked."

“We strictly follow the Chief of Staff's guideline na active defense lang. Importanteng bagay na hindi tayo mag-uumpisa pero karapatan ng lahat ng tao yan, self-defense. Pag tayo pinutukan, hindi pwedeng manonood lang o tumakbo," he said.

For now, he said the military’s Western Command will continue to have Air Force and Navy assets there maintain their vigilance against attempts to put back the markers.

The Philippines is disputing the Spratly Islands with China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

Recently, the Philippines had exchanged strong words with China following recent encounters between Philippine and Chinese forces in the area.

Pama said the markers they dismantled consisted basically of a steel bar with graduated markings.

GMA news