Duterte leads commissioning of Coast Guard vessel Melchora Aquino

• Duterte leads commissioning of Philippine Coast Guard vessel Melchora Aquino

• The launch coincided with Philippine Independence Day celebrations

• New MRRV is one of the two largest PCG vessels acquired with Japanese financing

• The vessel can carry out multiple tasks including securing the country’s territorial waters

President Rodrigo Duterte led the commissioning of Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Melchora Aquino (MRRV-9702) yesterday (June 12), coinciding with the 124^th independence day celebrations.

The Japan-built 97-meter-long Melchora Aquino is the second of PCG’s two largest-ever multi-role response vessels (MRRV). The other, BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701), was commissioned in May.

READ: PCG’s first multipurpose response vessel launched at Japan shipyard

PCG said the two vessels allow it to patrol better the country’s maritime jurisdictions, including West Philippine Sea (WPS) and the Philippine Rise.

In his speech at the vessel launch, Duterte said he has told China the Philippines can’t give up territory also being claimed by Beijing, noting optimism that overlapping claims by Manila and Beijing on the WPS (South China Sea) and Chinese intrusions into areas within the 200-km exclusive economic zone can be settled diplomatically.

“Kaibigan ko si President Xi Jinping and we continue to talk (President Xi Jinping is my friend and we continue to talk),” said Duterte in a report on the Philippine Coast Guard web page.

“Coast Guard to Coast Guard… We do not send gray ships because it will project a different picture to everybody,” the President said, whose six-year term ends on June 30.

“I made it clear to him that we cannot give up our sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea, including our exclusive economic zone because it is vital for our national life,” Duterte added.

Duterte praised the PCG’s role in government operations. “So far, the Coast Guard has an excellent record and participation in even struggles in Mindanao. You have helped the government in maintaining our independence as a Republic. Bilib ako sa inyo (You impress me),” Duterte said.

“At no other time na ang Coast Guard binigyan ng importansya. (At no time has the Coast Guard been accorded importance),” said the President.

“I can only thank my classmate, (Transportation Secretary) Art Tugade for husbanding the entire agency of the Coast Guard. I am very much impressed,” Duterte added, expressing admiration for the Department of Transportation’s success in providing the Filipino people comfort under his administration.

“Let me thank the DOTr for a job well done. We have gone a long way to improve and we delivered,” Duterte said.

The Melchora Aquino arrived at the PCG Headquarters in Port Area, Manila, on May 27, days after departing Japan under its sailing crew led by Coast Guard Commander Patrick Babag.

The delivery of the new MRRV will “significantly improve the PCG’s response capabilities in maritime search and rescue, law enforcement, humanitarian assistance, disaster response operations, as well as in patrolling within the country’s maritime domain,” Tugade said.

The Melchora Aquino and Teresa Magbanua were acquired under the DOTr’s Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project (MSCIP) Phase II, a Japanese-assisted project funded by an Official Development Assistance loan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Both vessels were modeled after the Japan Coast Guard Kunigami-class ship, with a top speed of not less than 24 knots (44.5 kilometers per hour) and an endurance of not less than 4,000 nautical miles (7,408 km).

Also present at the commissioning were Minister and Consul General Hiroyuki Okajima of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, Senator Bong Go, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. senior vice president Hiroshi Mori, and JICA Philippines Senior Representative Kenji Kuronuma.

JICA provided financing for the vessel purchases under its ODA loan for the “Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project for the PCG Phase 2” in support of the agency’s modernization.

“JICA vows to continue supporting the modernization of the PCG for its effective operations in the Philippines’ maritime sector. Just like the Japan Coast Guard, we view the role of the PCG as crucial in upholding maritime safety and security as well as in the conservation of marine resources,” said JICA Philippines Chief Representative Takema Sakamoto.

The two vessels will complement ten 44-meter MRRVs acquired by the country under JICA-PCG cooperation to beef up the Philippines’ fleet.

As a way forward, JICA will be providing training for the fast-growing roster of PCG personnel on maritime search and rescue, law enforcement, marine environmental protection and security, as well as on the operation and maintenance of the MRRVs.