Rody set to commission PCG’s first multi-role response vessel

President Duterte is set to commission the newly built 44- meter vessel MRRV Tubbataha of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Wednesday.

PCG spokesman Commander Armand Balilo yesterday said Coast Guard commandant Rear Admiral William Melad is still deciding on where to send the multi-role response vessel, either to the West Philippine Sea or to Sulu.

The PCG has renewed its patrol at the West Philippine Sea, which is also being claimed by China.

Chinese coast guard ships have long been patrolling the West Philippine Sea and have prevented Filipino fishermen from operating in the area, adding to tensions between the two countries.

Additional maritime patrol is needed in Sulu as a preventive effort against kidnapping, smuggling and other illegal activities.

Balilo said that it is part of maritime tradition for the President to commission a new ship because it is a vessel of service.

He explained that just like the appointed Coast Guard officials who are commissioned by the President, this is the same case with the ship. “The ship is also like a soldier that is being sent out to fight, to serve the country,” he explained.

The Philippine Navy also practices this maritime tradition.

Balilo admitted that there are instances when the chief executive had not been available to commission a new Coast Guard ship, so the task is delegated to the secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

The Tubbataha is the first of the 10 Parola Class ships of the PCG that would be arriving in the country until 2018 from Japan.

The second patrol ship would be the MRRV Malabrigo that was named after a lighthouse in Lobo, Batangas. The vessel is expected to arrive in December.