New Navy combat vessel enters country’s waters

By William Depasupil
Manila Times, Thursday, August 18, 2011

THE country’s largest and most modern combat sea vessel, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, has arrived in the country after a 42-day journey from the United States.

The Philippine Navy spokesman, Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay, disclosed that the vessel, formerly the US Coast Guard cutter Hamilton, entered the country’s territory around 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

“The ship will anchor in Manila Bay anchorage area on August 21 [Sunday] for Customs, immigration and quarantine inspection prior to arrival and welcome ceremony at Manila South Harbor, “ he said.

The ship is manned by 13 officers and 82 enlisted personnel under the command of Capt. Alberto Cruz, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1988.

As of 1 p.m. yesterday, the vessel was some 273 nautical miles off the baseline of Samar in Eastern Visayas.

It left the United States on July 5.

The deputy spokesman of the Philippine Navy Fleet, Lt. Jr. Grade Rommel Rodriguez, said that Gregorio del Pilar arrived more than a week ahead of its original schedule.

According to him, the ship would be repainted and installed with additional facilities and capabilities, which are cheaper to be done here than in the US.

The Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen. Eduardo Oba Jr., has said that the former US Coast Guard 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 disputed Spratly group of islands.

Oban said that the Hamilton was designed to endure high-sea weather and can sustain longer patrolling at sea.

“It has better and wider range radars to be able to cover a larger scope and has a fire control system that enables it to fire accurate shots even if the ship is in up and down motion, and even if the target is shaking,” he added.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said that the acquisition of the “new man-of-war” would certainly be a big boost to the Navy’s fleet, considering its multi-role capability.

www.manilatimes.net

Hamilton ship arrives from the US

By Alexis Romero
Philippine Star, Thursday, August 18,2011

MANILA, Philippines - The Hamilton-class ship acquired by the Philippine Navy from the US arrived in Philippine territory yesterday after almost a month of voyage from California.

The vessel, which has been renamed BRP Gregorio del Pilar, entered the Philippines Sea at about 1 p.m., Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay said.

It passed through waters off Samar and the San Bernardino Strait off the Bicol region yesterday afternoon.

Once the ship becomes part of the Navy inventory, it would be deployed to the West Philippine Sea to secure energy projects in the area.

“As a multi-mission vessel, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar will be primarily important for the Philippine Navy’s maritime security and sovereignty patrols especially upon its deployment at the Malampaya project west of Palawan,” Tonsay said in a text message.

“Due to its classification as a weather high endurance cutter, its secondary roles will be in support for search and rescue,” he added.

A total of 95 Navy personnel are manning the ship that will dock on Manila Bay on Aug. 21. The ship will undergo customs and immigration quarantine and inspection before it will be presented in a welcome ceremony in the Manila South Harbor.

The BRP Gregorio del Pilar is classified as a cutter, a high-speed vessel that can cut through waves.

The ship would be the Philippine Navy’s first Hamilton-class cutter and is now its largest vessel. It was acquired through the United States Excess Defense Act using proceeds from the Malampaya project funds.

The transfer cost has been pegged at P450 million while the operational cost for two years is estimated at P120 million.

The Hamilton-class cutter was largely used by the US Coast Guard for drug and migrant interdiction, law enforcement, search and rescue, living marine resources protection, and defense readiness.

The 380 feet-long cutter was turned over by the US Coast Guard to Philippine officials in California last May 13.

The vessel started its voyage on July 18 when it sailed for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii from California on July 18.

www.philstar.com

Navy aasinta ng 4th W

By Dondie Curit

Abante, Tonite, Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Pang-apat na dikit na panalo at paghahanda sa susunod na round ang tatrabahuin ngayon ng Philippine Navy sa pakikipagtipan sa Maynilad Water Services Inc. sa Shakey's V-League Season 8 Open Conference eliminations sa The Arena sa San Juan.

Mag-aabot ang Lady Sailors at Lady Water Dragons sa tampok na laro sa alas-kuwatro matapos ang sagupaang Philippine Army at ateneo de manila University sa alas-dos.

Paghahandaan ng mga bata ni playing coach Zeny Ybanez ang Maynilad na may kapasidad na manalo kahit lugmok sa 1-3.

"Yung mga remaning games namin, kailangang paghandaan namin iyon dahil bilog ang bola," ani ni Ybanez," Kahit Maynilad iyan, marunong silang mag volleyball."

Galing ang Navy sa 25-18,25-15,25-17 panalo kontra Philippine Air Force noong Linggo habang sumasadsad ang Maynilad sa Army, 22-25, 15-25, 27-25,15-25.

Sa unang laro,nakataya ang 4-0 kartada ng Lady Troopers at pananatili s atuktok ng team standings kontra Lady Eagles na pasok na rin sa susunod na round bu

nga ng 2-3 rekord.

Sink or Swim with Navy

By Jullie Yap Daza

Manila Bulletin, Tuesday, August 16, 2011

MANILA, Philippines — Repeat 110 times: “We are a maritime nation.”

Now you’re in the good graces of the Philippine Navy chief, Vice Admiral Alexander Pama. (It’s vice because his equivalent in the Army is a four-star, not five-star, general.)

When he had lunch at Sofitel with “Bulong Pulungan” last week, the Admiral was bent on getting his mantra across, that if you don’t buy it hook, line, and sinker, then “we will never have the strong and credible navy” that this maritime nation deserves.

The Navy serves 67 percent of the population who live in coastal areas, in a country with a coastline longer than the USA’s, where in the midst of a grouping of 7,107 islands is the center of the center of marine biodiversity and fishing is a major source of livelihood.

Our waters are a rich source of marine life, yet they are also the graveyard of thousands of boat passengers who have gone down to the bottom of the sea.

What a shame that our Navy has 66 ships and boats, of which only 33 are in ship-shape condition, alas. What can we islanders and the Admiral or his successors do but sink or swim with the Navy?

Coming soon, BRP Gregorio del Pilar, a $10-million, 30-year-old “new” Hamilton cutter, so “big and fast” she “can be deployed anywhere.” (More on Thursday)

www.mb.com.ph