PH’s newest warship completes first patrol

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY— The Philippines’ newest hand-me-down warship from the United States completed a patrol of the West Philippine Sea and made a port call here to open its doors to the public.

The BRP Gregorio del Pilar went on patrol in areas being claimed by the Philippines in the highly volatile Spratly Islands but a Navy official said it didn’t stray into territories being claimed by China.

Commissioned by the Philippine Navy in December, the warship boasts of long range patrol capability and surveillance facilities never seen before in any Philippine Navy vessel.

Defense authorities said the Gregorio del Pilar is the Philippines’ most state-of-the-art naval vessel so far. It came from the US naval fleet and was refurbished for the Philippines.

Joseph Rostum Peña, Naval Forces West commanding officer, said in a press conference held on Monday at the Gregorio del Pilar that the ship went on a 12-day “sovereignty patrol” in the West Philippine Sea.

Included in the patrol route was the Camago-Malampaya gas field, which hosts the country’s lone natural gas extraction facility, and the Balabac Strait next to the Malaysian maritime border, according to Peña.

“This ship is more capable and has more endurance than any of our other naval ships,” he said.

Peña added that the Philippine Navy would further upgrade the ship’s defense capabilities with the installation, “hopefully soon,” of its own missile system.

He added, however, that the country’s naval capability still paled in comparison with that of China and other countries claiming portions of Spratlys.

“Compared to other navies, our weapons system was not yet at par,” said Peña.

Capt. Alberto Cruz, the vessel’s commanding officer, said Gregorio del Pilar did not encounter any incident of foreign intrusion into Philippine territory during its patrol.

“So far we did not monitor any intrusion, except for the usual merchant ships that plied the area,” said Cruz.

Peña admitted, however, that the ship kept a distance from other islets being claimed by China and other nations in the disputed area.

“We distanced ourselves from the other occupied islands. The other countries did the same,” said Peña.