USCGC Dallas , a second Hamilton class cutter scheduled to be decommissioned on March 30, 2012 will sail on its way to the Philippines on May 2012 and will be under the inventory of the Philippine navy. The US government will hand over a second Coast Guard cutter to the Philippines with the aim of improving the country’s maritime security. Last year, the first Hamilton Class Cutter from United States was renamed BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-15) and currently navigating the seas near the disputed Spratly Islands.
“Aggressive Chinese claims on the South China Sea – or the West Philippine Sea as it is referred to in Manila – are driving the nations of Southeast Asia to seek closer US ties,” said Republican Rep. Ed Royce.
Source: Philstar, wikipedia
Though it is an aging ship, at least we started to act on the request of our Philippine Navy. We have high caliber Navy personnel but what's their use if they don't have a battle ship to operate. All over the internet we can observe that our neighboring countries are way far ahead than what our Navy have. But since we are slowly modernizing our Armed Forces including the Philippine Air Force then we can expect that within the next 10-20 years or so, we can have elite forces again just like what we had before.
10-20 years is a long way to go but if we can at least alleviate the corruption in our government then we can hasten the modernization program in probably half of that timeline. At the moment I am just wishing that there will be no war that will ignite in China Sea. We don't have anything to use to defend our territory. The Hamilton Cutters wouldn't be enough to face 62 submarines from China and it's first aircraft carrier which will be in full operation in August 2012.
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