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Malacañang said Thursday it expects the second Coast Guard Cutter to be provided by the US to beef up the government's effort to secure the country's territorial waters.  

“It will provide additional security for our monitoring of our waters. Let me state also that this is not only for our external security. It’s also for the protection of our environment. This is part of the mandate of those Hamilton Class Cutters,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said at a press briefing. 

"Certainly we welcome and we thank the decision of the US to grant us our second Hamilton Class Cutter,” he added.

 

Lacierda said part of the reason for acquiring the Hamilton Class Cutter is to deter incursions.

 

“If you have the capability to deter them (incursions), certainly it does offer those who seek to enter our waters to think twice and that's the reason why those class cutters were acquired,” he said.

 

The Aquino administration repeatedly complained of the alleged intrusions of China in the territorial waters of the Philippines particularly in the West Philippine Sea [South China Sea].

 

The Philippines and China are among the countries claiming jurisdiction, in part or whole, on the Spratlys islands. The others are Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.

 

Lacierda further said the acquisition of the class cutter should not be a concern of neighboring countries as it is primarily for the protection of  Philippine waters.

 

The country’s first Hamilton Class Cutter, which arrived last year, was sent on a mission to the disputed Spratly islands. — Amita Legaspi/RSJ, GMA News