The Philippines, being an archipelago, has no land borders with neighboring countries. Unlike some countries in Northern Africa like Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, that have problems with porous borders between countries, the Philippines is spared of that kind of border problem. However, while these North African countries share the same stretch of coastline along the Mediterranean Sea, the…
INTRODUCTION Stealth is the main reason for acquiring a submarine. Submarine-warfare is governed by avoiding being detected underwater by controlled sound propagation and crew activities on-board. Submarine invincibility is lost and the effective use of her weapon system would be denied once her presence underwater is detected. The submarine is a sitting duck because her location, rate of motion, and…
General Santos City (GenSan) is located in South Cotabato, in southwest Mindanao, and is a modern fish port. Its original name was Dadiangas, but was later renamed General Santos after the city’s founder, General Paulino Santos, who was a former commanding general of the Philippine Army. As the Tuna capital of the Philippines, GenSan carries the flag for South Cotabato…
Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM) received the Best Operating Forces Unit Award during the 120th Philippine Navy’s Founding Anniversary in June. President Rodrigo Duterte personally congratulated NFWM Commander RAdm Rene V Medina while FOIC VAdm Robert Empredad attached the streamer to NFWM’s standard in a ceremony held in Davao. As the Philippine Navy marked its 120th Founding Anniversary with an…
The principal role of maritime forces is war fighting. This includes searching for, surveillance of, and combat engagement with the adversary’s battle fleet. The aim is to control the sea lines of communications including the chokepoints or deny their use by the enemy in order to achieve the enduring national interests: territorial integrity and political independence. Maritime forces initiate naval…
As part of modernization, the Philippine Navy procured five new helicopters manufactured by Italy’s Agusta Westland to replace the ageing helicopters in its inventory. Three of these aircrafts that are in multi-role configuration were delivered in 2013 while the other two in armed-configuration came in 2015. These helicopters gave the Philippine Navy a great leap in terms of capabilities and…
On 15-March-2018, Navy Commander Alex Gianan, the last skipper of BRP Rajah Humabon, ordered his chief quartermaster to haul down the ship’s Commission Pennant to formally conclude her 38-year service in the Philippine Navy (PN). Philippine Fleet Commander RAdm Danilo Rodelas presided the Decommissioning Ceremony with Offshore Combat Force Commander Captain Caesar Bernard Valencia, Fleet senior officers, and 10 former…
INTRODUCTION The Philippine National Defense Department has signed a contract with Hyundai of South Korea for the construction of two units of the Incheon Class Frigate last 24-October-2016 at the cost of US$337M to modernize the capability of the Philippine Navy’s surface combatants. This article is a guide to craft the circular of requirements for the Frigate in order to…
Global naval defence budgets are more and more constrained, putting pressure on navies around the world to build up their capabilities and fleets to remain powerful on the seven seas. The resurgence of adversaries and their increasing capabilities is forcing allied nations to re-assess their current state and to think about procurement decisions in upcoming years. In a recent survey…
We join the Philippine Navy in celebrating its 119th Founding Anniversary in May this year and convey our warmest congratulations for being an active partner in the maritime community and an instrument of peace, progress and stability. With its well-conceived plan of governance but still faced with inadequate resources we are tempted to ask the question: Is it on track…
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IS THIS HOW IT ALL STARTED? IS THIS HOW IT WILL END? The latest Base Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) website advertises the sale of Fort Abad: A BIT OF HISTORY. More than five centuries ago, in 1584, the Spanish Armada established “Fuerte de San Antonio Abad” in Manila way ahead of Fort San Felipe (1609) in Cavite, to protect the…
In 1998, the former Flag Officer In Command of the Philippine Navy, then Vice Admiral Eduardo Ma R Santos AFP, endorsed to the Department of National Defense the concept paper for the development of submarine capability for the Philippine Navy. VADM Santos is the proponent of the nucleus of submarine warfare in the PN. The Department of National Defense acknowledged…
…whether it is a parameter or not but certainly applicable in the design and construction of a warship as it is in many, if not all, that we do – Doing It “Right First Time.”
The idea of giving credit where credit is due on the separation of the Coast Guard from the Navy came about when I got the suggestion last year that we should award VAdm. Mariano J. Dumancas Jr. (FOIC, PN1990-93) with a citation for exactly agreeing to help achieve that result in 1992. I missed to include that idea in our…
Has the AFP or the Phil. Navy ever made a feasibility study complete with projections of the benefits of the ship building industry in terms of generating capital for the economy and jobs for the people?
This reminds me that the United States Navy and the US Department of State in the mid-‘60s had great hopes for the Philippine’s future. After Japan, the trios Taiwan, ROK and [ROK] Singapore had started to take off and they thought we would be the next. That was the message I got from them when they gave us a briefing…
Only very recently, President Obama said China must adhere to international law for the sake of peace and stability in the South China Sea (Vietnam) and the West Philippine Sea (RP). The Pacifi c Area Command head, Admiral Harry Harris, referred to the aggressive reclamation work by China on the reefs as a “Great Wall of Sand”. These artificial islands…
On March 20, 2015, the MBF marked its 100th forum, a milestone hosted by VADM. Jesus Millan and RADM. Ronald Mercado, and held at the Philippine Navy Headquarters. The 100th, 101st and 102nd MBF Fora discussed at length, among others, China’s dredging, reclamation, and construction activities in the disputed islands located in the West Philippine Sea.
Many columnists from time to time mention the observation that we are a ‘fractured nation’ for many reasons. For one, some say that we suffer from colonial mentality, that we forgot our roots and readily accepted what our colonial masters dished out to us. On the other hand, there is an opposite syndrome, and that is to falsely claim historical…