Navy costs rocket

The BRP Gregorio del Pilar AFP File Photo

MANILA, Philippines—Blame it on the new war ships.

Spending for gasoline, oil and lubricants (GOL) by the Philippine Navy rose to P1.291 billion in 2012—or a 169.71-percent increase over two years—following the country’s acquisition of two refurbished Hamilton-class cutters from the US Coast Guard.

The figures were based on a Commission on Audit report released last weekend.

The COA said the huge GOL expense was a first in the Navy’s 114-year history.

The cutters are the BRP Gregorio del Pilar and the BRP Ramon Alcaraz which were transferred to the Philippine Navy on May 13, 2011, and on May 22, 2012, respectively.

The US Coast Guard Research and Development Center, in its May 2000 report on the fuel consumption of cutters, said the USCGC Sherman, a Hamilton-class cutter similar to the Del Pilar and Alcuaz, burned 867,827 gallons of fuel on a normal mission per year.

The COA said the GOL cost was the single biggest item in the Navy’s “maintenance and other operating expenses” report, accounting for 32.6 percent of the P3.962 billion total MOOE for 2012.

The Navy paid P478.853 million and P713.482 million in 2010 and 2011, respectively, in GOL costs.—Cynthia D. Balana