March 10, 2004
U.S. donates $30-M patrol boat to RP
U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Joseph Mussomeli
greets President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during the March 8 ceremony
for the turnover of a $30-million Cyclone Class patrol ship that the
U.S. donated to the Philippine Navy. With them is Philippine Armed Forces
Chief of Staff Gen. Narciso Abaya (center). President Arroyo described
the ship as the Philippines’ “fastest naval boat,”
and Chargé Mussomeli said it would “greatly enhance”
the Philippine Navy’s “coastal patrol and counter-terrorism
capabilities”
Related link:
Remarks by Chargé d’Affaires
Joseph Mussomeli at the turnover ceremony
The BRP General Mariano Alvarez (PS38), the Cyclone Class patrol ship
that the United States donated to the Philippine Navy, was commissioned
on March 8, 2004 at the Navy Headquarters on Roxas Boulevard, Manila.
The ship was one of seven patrol Cyclone Class patrol vessels that the
U.S. Navy decommissioned from service in 2001 and refurbished for donation
to the Philippines at the cost of $7 million.
The transfer of the ship to the Philippines, including
two-year supply of parts, is altogether worth $30 million. More than
its cost and the enhancement it will contribute to the Philippine Navy’s
capabilities, the patrol ship is significant, according to Chargé
Mussomeli, as “a symbol of renewed” U.S.-Philippine relations
and as a reminder to both countries of “our past and a commitment
to our future.”
During the ceremony for the commissioning of the BRP General
Mariano Alvarez, President Arroyo also awarded U.S. Navy Lt. Gregory
Chad Miller, executive officer of the California-based Underwater Construction
Team Two of the U.S. Naval Base Ventura County, the Philippine Military
Merit Medal to recognize his unit’s support during rescue operations
for the passengers and crew of Super Ferry 14, which experienced an
accident off Manila Bay on February 27. Miller, along with 61 Philippine
sailors and Marines, were awarded medals for their contributions to
the rescue operations.
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