House leaders welcome move of US President Obama to provide additional two ships to PHL

From the Philippine News Agency (Nov 18): House leaders welcome move of US President Obama to provide additional two ships to PHL

House leaders on Wednesday welcomed the announcement of US President Barack Obama that the United States would provide two more ships as a form of compassion to boost the maritime security capabilities of the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard.

Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez reiterated his expression of gratitude to foreign leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila.

“We welcome this malasakit (compassion) gesture of the United States to improve the country’s naval forces. We thank President Obama and all heads of state committing any and all types of support. The leaders of foreigncountries and international groups have been so helpful to us especially to Yolanda survivors,” Romualdez, a senatorial candidate said in a chance interview.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. also thanked President Obama for his concern to the country amid the continued aggressive intrusion of China to the contested territories in the West Philippine Sea.

“That would be a welcome addition to our under equipped naval forces,” said Belmonte in a separate interview.

Camiguin Rep. Xavier Jesus “XJ” Romualdo and Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez said in separate interviews that the announcement of President Obama should not be criticized.

“Our Armed Forces urgently needs to improve its capability for territorial defense. If I am not mistaken, we have already acquired two ships from the United States, and while these ships are already pretty old, I think they are considered to be our most capable ships and they did enable our navy to conduct patrols in the West Philippine Sea. We thus welcome President Obama's announcement. New ships from the United States, especially if these are more modern this time, would be a boost to the modernization efforts of the AFP, as well as to its near-term goal of attaining a minimum credible defense posture,” Romualdo said.

For his part, Alvarez said: “we would like to thank the US government and President Obama for giving us two more ships. These will greatly help our navy in patrolling our seas.”

But House senior Deputy Minority Leader and 1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III, said Obama should have provided the country a better and new patrol ships because they are only pushing their interest in Asia especially in the Philippines.

“The two second-hand ships are not impressive. What is the value of these ships to the country’s security? It’s all American interest,” Bello, a former secretary of the Department of Justice (DoJ), pointed out in a text message.

Obama disclosed that the US Coast Guard cutter and a research vessel were part of a broader American plan to scale up assistance to naval forces in Southeast Asia.

The coastal nations feel threatened by China’s aggressive assertion of control over the South China Sea.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=828559