Keeping Phl Navy afloat

Our Philippine embassy have formally received in behalf of our military the Hamilton-class Weather High Endurance Cutter from the US Coast Guard in official turnover rites held last Friday in Washington. Ambassador Jose Cuisia accepted the delivery of the vessel that was acquired under the US Foreign Military Sales program for the Philippines.

Disarmed of state-of-the-art weapons and modern satellite communications system used by the US Coast Guard, this decommissioned vessel has been retrofitted for the Philippine Navy as part of its modernization program. It will be renamed BRP (that stands for Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas) Gregorio del Pilar — who was our country’s youngest General who was killed in battle ironically during the Philippine-American war.

Now Philippine-flagged, the newly acquired Navy vessel sails to Manila Bay by August this year under the command of Capt. Alberto Cruz along with a crew of 100 Navy men. They were especially selected for the on-the-ship training of the Hamilton Cutter in the US to learn how to run the vessel. The first batch of 23 Navy officers flew to California two months ago. Capt. Cruz and his men have been training with the US Coast Guard in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. The second batch, composed of 75 Philippine Navy men, left Manila last Saturday night.

The arrival of the Hamilton Cutter would make Philippine Navy flag-officer-in-command (FOIC) Vice Admiral Alexander Pama the happiest officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Since he was promoted as Navy FOIC last Jan. 4, Pama has been working on his pet project to acquire this kind of multi-role vessel badly needed to meet the demands of the Filipino people from their Philippine Navy.

More than a war vessel, Pama cited the Hamilton Cutter is immediately deployable to far-flung provinces of the country that can be reached only by sea, especially in times of natural calamities and other disasters. Pama cited that the most important feature of this vessel is having a dual diesel and gas turbine engines that give it a top speed of 29 knots, can sail a range of 14,000 miles, and can remain at sea without refueling for 45 days.

A Hamilton-class ship is 378 feet long and displaces 3,250 tons. The vessel can carry helicopters and thus extends the Navy’s patrolling capabilities. It will be the largest patrol ship in the Philippine Navy and would boost its ability to patrol the country’s exclusive economic zone to as far as the areas around the disputed Spratlys islands in South China Sea. Aside from the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Taiwan lay claim to the many islands, islets, reefs, atolls and shoals in the disputed Spratlys.

Both Manila and Beijing recently exchanged diplomatic protests following the latest incident in the disputed area around Spratlys. Two Chinese patrol boats allegedly harassed a civilian ship of the Philippine oceanographic research vessel anchored at Reed Bank around the mineral-rich Palawan waters.

Hamilton-class ships are generally armed with a rapid-firing three-inch/76mm gun, a 20mm Phalanx and two 25mm Mk38 “Bushmaster” auto-cannons. But after being disarmed of its weaponry by the US Coast Guard, it would obviously carry what the Philippine Navy could afford to install on it.

The Philippine Navy’s current flagship and largest war vessel is the BRP Rajah Humabon which is 308 feet long. Navy data show out of 53 patrol ships in its inventory, only 26 are literally still afloat. According to Pama, these patrol ships have average age of 36.4 years while the bigger but older vessels of the Navy are 66 years old and above.

Pama earlier disclosed the Philippine Navy would spend as much as P450 million for the fuel, repairs and improvements of the newly acquired vessel, including the training expenses for the officers and crew. If acquired as brand new, a Hamilton Cutter would cost about P5 billion. So, Pama said the Philippine Navy realized savings that it could use for other priority needs in its modernization program. Hopefully, he said, the Philippine Navy could acquire another unit of Hamilton Cutter later on.

The official delivery of the Hamilton Cutter coincidentally came as the American carrier USS Carl Vinson arrived last Saturday in the Philippines for a “routine port call” along with escort warships that include the USS Shiloh, USS Bunker Hill and the USS Gridley. The US embassy in Manila announced the four-day goodwill visit of the American warship billed as the ship that buried the remains of slain international terrorist al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Rear Admiral Samuel Perez, commander of the Carrier Strike Group on board the USS Vinson formally welcomed President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, US Ambassador Harry Thomas and some Cabinet officials who were all flown on board the USS Vinson reportedly anchored somewhere in the South China Sea.

In the presence of around 50 or so Filipino-American sailors who were part of the USS Vinson officers and crew, P-Noy reaffirmed the country’s commitment to the US as its ally in this part of the world. “We are here today to reiterate our alliance with America!” P-Noy was quoted as saying during a brief program that followed after a guided tour.

Pama could only watch with awe and wishes for the Philippine Navy to have one day a carrier warship like the USS Vinson. But the Navy chief conceded to the realities on the ground. If there are resources available, it takes a long period of time, however, if they opt to buy brand new vessels because they must faithfully comply with the procurement processes as prescribed by the country’s laws. This is not to mention red tape and what- have-you in the government bidding system.

Pama and incumbent AFP chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. are both graduates of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 1979. A year younger than his mistah, Pama has mapped out his visions for the Navy that he intends to achieve during his watch. If the Navy modernization program sails on smoothly, Pama could very well get on perhaps to succeed his mistah who retires December this year as AFP chief of staff.

At this stage of the Navy modernization program, Adm. Pama certainly would not want this stalled in rough waters with our lawmakers who are ready to jump into congressional investigations at the slightest hint, or any accusations of irregularity in the AFP. This is how he keeps the Philippine Navy afloat.