By Priam Nepomuceno
MANILA – The country’s second offshore patrol vessel (OPV), the prospective BRP Rajah Lakandula (PS-21), will be commissioned on May 29, a ranking Philippine Navy (PN) official said on Tuesday.
“The second OPV, as I mentioned earlier, will be commissioned on (May) 29th, during the Navy Day 128th anniversary celebration by no less than our Commander-in-Chief PBBM (President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.),” Philippine Fleet (PF) commander Rear Admiral Joe Anthony Orbe said at a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
The future BRP Rajah Lakandula, the sister ship of the first OPV, BRP Rajah Sulayman (PS-20), which was commissioned last February, arrived at the Naval Operating Base Subic in Zambales on May 8, or four days after leaving South Korea on May 4.
Orbe said the four remaining OPVs, out of the six ordered from South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, will be delivered until 2028.
The contract for these six OPVs, worth PHP30 billion, was signed on June 27, 2022.
“The four will be arriving (by) until 2028. Initially, the schedule was two per year starting 2026 so the sixth will be delivered (in) 2028,” he added.
These OPVs measure 94.4 meters long and 14.3 meters wide, with a displacement of 2,400 tons, a maximum speed of 22 knots, a cruising speed of 15 knots, and a range of 5,500 nautical miles.
Orbe said the arrival of these new OPVs will greatly boost the PF’s capability to conduct more patrols in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
“Definitely, this is a big boost to the PF’s ability to support the PN mission to put more platforms at sea at any one time. We have a very huge maritime zone. This is a big leap, a big boost to our capability,” he added.
At the same press conference, Naval Air Warfare Training and Doctrine Center 50 head, Captain Ariel Joseph Coloma, said the PN is expecting another six AW-159 “Wildcat” anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters to join the two now in service within the next four to five years.
“We are actually looking forward to (the) additional six AW-159s in the next four to five years, we’re expecting those ‘Wildcats’ to join the fleet,” he added.
Likewise, Coloma said the two AW-159s now in service are already “operationalized” and have currently undergone several deployment missions and exercises all over the country.
He added the “Wildcat” is an ASW capable aircraft as it is capable of detecting, identifying, and “prosecute” (neutralizing) subsurface targets.
Right to develop WPS features
In a related development, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson for the WPS Navy reservist Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said the country has “absolute sovereignty and complete jurisdiction” to develop the nine features it occupies, including Pag-asa Islands, in the vital waterway.
“Any repair, construction, enhancement, or development that we do on these features are all within our legal rights. We do not need to seek the permission of any country, more so one that has illegally intruded into and continues to be in our maritime zones. Whether they pose a threat or not to this particular country is none of our concern,” he said.
Trinidad made this comment after a Chinese defense spokesperson said they oppose any construction activities conducted by the Philippines “on Chinese islands and reefs that it has illegally occupied in the South China Sea.”
Asked if the Philippines can continue with its improvements in Pag-asa Islands, Trinidad said the country has “been doing improvements, enhancements, development, repair, and fortification to ensure that these islands will be able to support any deployed troops and the local community, Kalayaan Community on Pag-asa Island.” (PNA)
