AFP orders Navy to send more ships to support patrol in West Philippine Sea
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Cirilito Sobejana ordered the Philippine Navy to deploy more ships to support the maritime patrol operation in the West Philippine Sea.
"Gen. Cirilito Sobejana ordered the deployment of three additional ships in the West Philippine Sea, three navy vessels," AFP spokesman Edgard Arevalo said in a radio interview on Wednesday.
"All in all, three additional (navy vessels) to the two that were already there, a total of five," he added.
Maj. Cherryl Tindog, Western Mindanao Command spokesperson, said there are four Navy vessels in their area.
Two arrived in Palawan from Eastern Mindanao on Monday.
Arevalo also emphasized the need for the AFP to acquire more assets as he admitted that the additional navy vessels that will be deployed in the West Philippine Sea come from other areas .
Arevalo admitted that the deployment of these additional navy vessels in Palawan is not enough to patrol the entire territorial waters in West Philippine Sea
"To be honest, it can help... but it is still not enough, I asked (Wescom commander) Admiral (Ramil Roberto) Enriquez, how long will a ship would have to sail to patrol the entire 490 square kms (which cover the exclusive economic zone in Palawan) assuming that there will be no refueling stops. It will take 15 days before we will be able to patrol the area," he said.
"Our aircraft patrolling the area takes five hours to cover the key features which we monitor. This is how wide the maritime zone that we need to protect and (shows) the limitation of our assets," he added. Robina Asido/DMS
