Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente O Bacarro, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (CSAFP), led the Christening Ceremony for the two Fast Attack Interdiction Crafts (FAIC) on September 6 at Roxas Boulevard, Manila.
These two missile-capable gunboats of the Philippine Navy, aptly named BRP Nestor Acero (PG901) and BRP Lolinato To-ong (PG902) in honor of two AFP Medal for Valor awardees, are part of the FAIC acquisition project under the Revised AFP Modernization Program-Horizon 2. A total of eight units were ordered worth Php10 billion.
In his speech, Lt. Gen. Bacarro emphasized the role of the vessels in the continuous protection of national territory and interests. “These shall strengthen our naval capability on littoral defense and maritime interdiction operations and decisively forward our Self-Reliance Defense Posture program.”
“The procurement of these naval warfare assets through government-to-government mode between the Philippines and Israel demonstrates our robust diplomatic and defense relationship with other countries, grounded on our shared goal of ensuring security and stability,” the CSAFP added. (Photo by PO3 Viluan Ret/PAO, AFP)
