PHILIPPINES NEWS PORTAL

The Philippine Coast Guard has deployed a ship and a plane to patrol the Philippine Rise, a resource-rich part of Philippine territory that some experts feared was also being encroached by China. The Coast Guard, according to spokesperson Capt. Armand Balilo, on Saturday sent an Islander aircraft, a propeller-driven plane, and the BRP Suluan, a multi-role response vessel, to Philippine Rise (formerly Benham Rise) to conduct patrols in the area in tandem.   ‘Eyes’   Balilo said the ship and plane left Legazpi City in Albay province for the vast underwater plateau that is part of Philippine territory off the coast of Aurora province. The Coast Guard vessels, said Balilo, “would serve as our ‘eyes’ in the area as part of our maritime patrols.” The deployment came after Coast Guard chief, Rear Admiral Elson Hermogino, received instructions from President Duterte for the Coast Guard to activate patrols in Philippine Rise, which is believed to be teeming with natural gas, oil an

(ISEAS YUSOF ISHAK  INSTITUE file photo)  ) PUERTO PRINCESA CITY — A maritime expert has questioned  Malacañang’s pronouncement that it is considering a “joint exploration” with China for potential energy deposits in an undisputed Philippine territory some 50 kilometers off Busuanga town in Palawan province, identified as Service Contract (SC) 57. Lawyer Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said in a social media post that the government’s plan to include the area in a deal offer made by China to jointly explore the Reed Bank area in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) was “giving too much, too soon” to the country’s favored neighbor. Batongbacal was referring to an announcement made by President Rodrigo Duterte last week in Marawi City, and later clarified by Malacañang spokesperson Harry Roque, that the administration was considering China’s offer to explore both SC 57 and Reed Bank (SC 72). (Inquirer)

                                                    Seventh MRRV of the PCG (photo : MaxDefense) The Philippine Coast Guard has received its seventh Parola-class patrol vessel. Platform has significantly bolstered service’s constabulary capabilities The Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG’s) seventh multirole response vessel (MRRV) has arrived in the country. Vessel movement analysis by Jane’s via the IHS Markit’s AISLive portal on 2 March indicates that the platform, which will be in service as BRP Cape San Agustin with pennant number 4408, departed Tokyo Bay on 23 February, and has now arrived in Manila Bay. Cape San Agustin joins six existing MRRVs that were commissioned by the PCG between October 2016 and November 2017. The vessels were ordered under a government programme known as the Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project for the PCG (Phase II). (JANES)

                                    MANILA, Philippines — Is a joint exploration between Filipino and Chinese companies in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, including in areas where China never laid claim to, legal? Malacañang earlier said areas under service contracts (SC) 57 and 72 are being considered for possible joint exploration with a company and not the Chinese government. However, a maritime law expert warned that such a venture would elevate the Chinese firm’s status from mere sub-contractor to a “co-owner.” Formerly called Geophysical Survey and Exploration Contract 101, the 880,000-hectare SC 72 is at the Recto Bank, which is located west of Palawan and southwest of the Malampaya gas field. In late 2014, the Department of Energy suspended exploration in the bank, which is in waters also claimed by China, as the government pursued an arbitration case against the Asian power. Meanwhile, SC 57 is a petroleum exploration project awarded to Philippine Nati

MANILA, Philippines — Australia shares the United States' concern on Beijing's militarization activities in the disputed South China Sea. According to a report from Wall Street Journal, Australia has increased its naval presence in the contested waters in response to concerns about regional stability. Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne, in a parliamentary hearing, had expressed Canberra's unease on Beijing's rising military capabilities in the region. Payne told the Australian Senate that the country has stepped up its naval presence in the South China Sea in the last 18 months despite not joining freedom of navigations operations of the United States, according to WSJ reporter Rob Taylor. Australia's heightened presence in the disputed waters is part of a "strong focus on security and stability in the Indo-Pacific." Lyle Morris, senior policy analyst at Rand Corporation, noted that Australia has been conducting presence o

MANILA  -- The United States decision to designate ISIS Philippines and the Maute Group as "Specially Designated Global Terrorists" (SDGTs) will greatly assist the Philippines in its ongoing anti-terrorism campaign. This was emphasized by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Bienvenido Datuin in a message Wednesday. "Such declaration from foreign countries will of course invariably help us in many ways in our fight against local terrorists and their foreign cohorts. Specific advantage on such declaration/list is the checking of money trail, financial sources, logistics lines and conduits of terror groups in foreign countries that may have connections with local violent extremists," he added. Earlier, the US State Department has designated the ISIS Philippines, ISIS West Africa and ISIS Bangladesh as "SDGTs" under Section 1 (b) of Executive Order 13224 as "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" pursuant to Section 219

(Germany type 214 submarine) MANILA  — While pushing for the completion of the country’s first two missile-capable frigates, Philippine Navy flag officer-in-command, Rear Admiral Robert Empedrad said the country also needs to acquire submarines as they are the “future of naval warfare”. When asked by Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao on what other equipment the Navy needs to be fully modernized, during the Senate hearing on the Frigate Acquisition Project earlier this week, Empedrad said, “Sir, we have a lot of concerns in the Navy, your honor. But for me, the future of naval warfare is submarine warfare. And I believe that if we want to get the respect of other foreign countries or navies, we should acquire submarines.”                                                   (Russian kilo class submarines) This, he said, is due to their stealthy nature, which makes them very difficult to detect. Submarines are naval vessels that can operate in deep or shallow waters an

MANILA  -- To fully protect the country's vast mar itime domains and resources, the Philippines needs four more modern frigates aside from the two contracted with South Korean shipbuilder, Hyudai Heavy Industries (HHI). This was the remark of Philippine Navy (PN) flag-officer-in-command Rear Admiral Robert Empedrad when asked how many more modern warships the Navy needs to fully secure the country’s maritime domains. Empedrad issued this statement during the Frigate Acquisition Project hearing at the Senate last Feb. 19 where issues concerning the brand of combat management system (CMS) to be installed were discussed. "Based on our Modernization Program, we will require six of the frigates until 2028 – that is our Third Horizon. Apat pa after we get these two ships," he said. The frigates, presently being built by HHI, will be armed with weapons capable of neutralizing surface, sub-surface and air threats aside from its electronic warfare ability. These

MANILA  -- Once completed and delivered fully functional in 2020, the two missile-armed frigates contracted from Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), will serve as the Navy's first anti-air missile platform. This was the response of Philippine Navy flag-officer-in-command Rear Admiral Robert Empedrad when asked if the PN has any "anti-access or area capability" during the Senate hearing on the Frigate Acquisition Project (FAP) last week. "In the current inventory of the PN, we don’t have capability for aerial denial.  Wala pa tayong  (We do not have) anti-air missile capability  na ship that can hit an incoming aerial object. But except for our frigates supposedly  kung ma -deliver (once delivered),  ito lang iyong  (this will only be the) first time that we will have that capability for aerial denial," he added. The frigates, now being built by HHI, will be armed with weapons capable of neutralizing surface, sub-surface and air threats aside from cap

The two US-built Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX aircraft of the 300th Air Intelligence Wing of the Philippine Air Force was modified to carry out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. MILITARY AIRCRAFT MISSION CONFIGURATION The aircraft is capable of operating in two different configurations. These configurations are as follows: – .ISR Configuration –EO/IR sensor, L3 CSW ATE System, Harris RF-7800M-MP Multiband Networking Radio, Harris RF-7800H-MP HF Radio, ASOC, equipment rack and sensor operator/observer seats (Qty: three (3) each of the Yingling VLS style). – Passenger Configuration –eight passenger seats (as provided with the commercial configuration, per USG provision to the Contractor). The aircraft cabin reconfigurable between the ISR and Passenger configurations within three (3) hours by two (2) trained personnel. Its powerful Pratt & Whitney Canada engine delivers 867 horsepower of dependable payload performance and superior efficiency.

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Navy on Monday said it has limited resources to patrol Benham or Philippine Rise, a 13-hectare undersea plateau off the coast of Aurora province. Rear Admiral Erick Kagaoan, commander of Naval Forces Northern Luzon, said the Navy still needs new ships to patrol the area. "As far as resources is concerned, we have limited resources in the Navy. We still need capital ships especially in that part of the country, the eastern part of the country," Kagaoan said in a Senate hearing. Capital ships are large warships like aircraft carriers and battleships. He said the Navy needs frigates similar to the high-endurance cutters that the United States turned over to the Philippines. The Philippine Navy has a unit deployed at Poro Point in La Union that can send floating assets and aircraft but does not have ships available to patrol the eastern seaboard. "We don't have that much floating assets that area available to patrol that area,"