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One of the newest warships of the Philippine Navy was deployed in Palawan under the Western Command (Wescom), which monitors and secures the territorial waters in the West Philippine Sea.

Commander Ariel Joseph Coloma said Tuesday the Philippine Navy's missile-equipped frigate BRP Antonio Luna with a helicopter onboard arrived in the area of Western Command last week.

"This is just part of our maritime patrol, sovereignty patrol which is a requirement in the West Philippine Sea," he said.

"As of now in Wescom, we really want to beef up our maritime presence in the West Philippine Sea, because that is also the requirement of the higher headquarters, that is the requirement of the national leadership that's why we deploy our vessels," he added.

Coloma did not say how many assets of Wescom were dedicated to patrol the West Philippine Sea, but he assured that they "have floating assets that were deployed round the clock within their area of responsibility".

Despite the deployment of BRP Antonio Luna in Palawan, Coloma noted that the "Wescom would want to further increase the assets" assigned in its area.

"We are making the most of what higher headquarters is giving us because we know that there are other deployment areas that also need support but here in Wescom we really maximize whatever assets that are deployed here, we maximize the deployment in the West Philippine Sea," he said. Robina Asido/DMS