PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan (PIA) -- The Armed Forces of the Philippines has assigned the BRP Davao del Sur (LD 602) in Palawan as an additional floating asset of the Western Command (WESCOM) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

It arrived at the Puerto Princesa seaport on October 6, 2023 from its homeport in Subic, Zambalez.

Palawan Media members under the WESCOM Defense Press Corp were given the opportunity to visit and tour the said ship.

According to LD 602 Commanding Officer Commander Marco DJ Sandalo, one of the main objectives of the ship's arrival in Palawan is to strengthen and intensify WESCOM's naval presence in the West Philippine Sea.

"Right now, we are in support of the mission of Western Command in joint operations area. We are now under operation command of WESCOM and we are here to intensify our naval presence in the WESCOM joint operations area particularly to maintain our naval presence in the West Philippine Sea," Sandalo told Palawan Media.

Sandalo said, they have already conducted a maritime and sovereignty patrol in the WPS as part of their assignment and mandate before proceeding to Puerto Princesa.

LD602 BRP Davao del Sur has the ability to perform sealift and amphibious capability in support to military and non-military operations of the naval operating forces.

"We can conduct multi-various missions, for example, humanitarian and disaster response and sealift capability," Sandalo added.

On October 9, food packs from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) were loaded onto the said ship to be brought to the town of Culion as preposition food packs during calamities.

LD602 was launched on September 29, 2016 and began serving the country on May 31, 2017. It has a crew of 121 and can carry up to 500 passengers and vehicles. It can also sail for up to 30 days.

One of the historic activities inside the ship was former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signing a proclamation declaring part of the Philippine Rise as a marine protected area. (OCJ/PIA Mimaropa-Palawan)