MANILA, Philippines鈥擠efense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he was hopeful that more new ships would be acquired soon for the Philippine Navy to sustain operations around the archipelago.
The Navy is set to commission its second brand new frigate, the future BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), which is missile-capable and one of two procured from South Korea鈥檚 Hyundai Heavy Industries for P16 billion. With its sister ship BRP Jose Rizal, which joined the naval force in 2020, the two new frigates would be the Navy鈥檚 most potent warships.
But the underfunded military apparently needed more ships for its Navy.
鈥淭hey have a wide range of activities facing them, that鈥檚 why we鈥檙e planning to acquire more vessels for our Navy,鈥� Lorenzana told ABS CBN 黑料社 Channel.
Lorenzana said the new multi-role ships won鈥檛 be deployed exclusively to the West Philippine Sea, where China continues its aggression.
鈥淭he South China Sea will not be the only areas that they will patrol. We have the Sulu Seas, where we are also concerned about the egress and ingress of terrorists from Sabah and Indonesia,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e also have the Benham Rise and East Philippine Sea, which is also vast. We also need huge vessels because of turbulent seas. Small ships won鈥檛 work there,鈥� he said.
Lorenzana reiterated a long-announced plan to buy offshore patrol vessels and corvettes.
鈥淗opefully, we can have them already ordered soon. Otherwise we will wait for the next administration to do that,鈥� he said.
Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana earlier said the Philippines will deploy more ships to the West Philippine Sea to ensure the safety of Filipino fishermen.
Lorenzana said that while Navy ships may be sent to protect fishermen, the Philippine Coast Guard is the 鈥減rimary agency鈥� tasked with the job.
鈥淭hey also have quite a number of vessels that they can deploy in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea to protect our fishermen. The Navy ships will be there to patrol as well, and they will also be used to protect our fishermen,鈥� he said.