00:00In other news, the Philippines is taking a hard look at Japan's offer to transfer old warships
00:05with defense officials saying the deal is far from set in stone.
00:09A team will head to Japan in August to see if the decades-old vessels are still worth sailing.
00:14As our Patrick DeJesus tells us more.
00:18The transfer of warships from Japan to the Philippines is not yet final.
00:23According to Defense Secretary Gibot Yodoro,
00:25a TORO study will be conducted to determine whether the six Abukuma-class destroyer escorts
00:31being offered by Japan are compatible with the fleet of the Philippine Navy.
00:36Also part of the consideration is the cost of operating these warships,
00:41which have already been in service for 30 years under the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
00:47It will add to the fleet size, but that will depend on whether we need to spend money for weaponizing it,
00:57for interoperability, for secure communications.
01:01The exercise to upgrade the weapon systems of all our existing vessels is a continuing exercise.
01:10So it's a balance. It's a resource management balance between acquiring new and maintaining
01:19and repurposing the old and the ordered vessels to come.
01:26According to the Philippine Navy, an inspection of the said ships will be conducted in August
01:32following an invitation from Japan's Ministry of Defense that will last for two weeks.
01:38The Joint Visual Inspection Team will be composed of service warfare officers,
01:44sea systems experts, financial analysts, and logisticians.
01:48We will know if it is still viable to accept these warships.
01:53That remains to be seen. That will be known upon the conduct or after the conduct of the JVI.
01:59Appropriately, we'll be forwarding a recommendation to General Headquarters
02:04and to the Department of National Defense on what system upgrades are required.
02:10Compared to the current ships of the Navy, Japan's Abukuma-class destroyer escorts
02:16have similar capabilities to the Jose Rizal-class frigates.
02:20These destroyer escorts also have specific capabilities that we require.
02:26Anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, electronic warfare, anti-air warfare.
02:32So, the acquisition or the potential transfer of these assets would greatly enhance the Philippine Navy's capability
02:41to further support the comprehensive archipelagic defense concept.
02:46Meanwhile, the highest number of Chinese ships in the West Philippine Sea was recorded in June of this year.
02:52Based on monitoring by the Philippine Navy, 49 ships from the China Coast Guard and the People's Liberation Army Navy
03:00were spotted in Bajo de Masinlok, Ayungincheol, and Pag-Asa Island.
03:05According to the Navy, weather conditions and deployment cycles may have contributed to the number of Chinese vessels each month.
03:13Patrick De Jesus from the National TV for A New and Better Philippines
03:18Thank you very much for joining us.
