Senior Undersecretary Charlie Galvez; also joining us here is – from his war bunker in the House of Representatives is Speaker, Speaker Martin Romualdez; the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines General Andy Centino; and Flag Officer in Command of the Philippine Navy Vice Admiral Toribio Adaci; commanding generals, officers, and enlisted personnel of the Philippine Navy; my colleagues in government; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen, good morning

I am very happy to be able to join the brave men and women of our Philippine Navy on this important day as we conduct our test fire of our country’s first surface-to-air missile system, the Mistral 3, and the other weapon systems that we have seen demonstrated here this morning.

With the fluid security situation in our region, it is imperative that the Armed Forces of the Philippines and of course the Navy is substantially equipped, trained, and always on alert to respond to any and all exigencies that may confront our nation. It is for this prime reason that we exert a continuous effort to strengthen the capacity of our Armed Forces.

Through strategic acquisitions and asset upgrading, we provide our Armed Forces with the wherewithal to be more effective, yearn its solemn and sworn duty to defend our people and territory and advance Philippine national interest.

Therefore, we welcome the Philippine Navy’s deployment of the state-of-the-art weapons and defense systems on our missile frigates, BRP Jose Rizal and BRP Antonio Luna. With the impressive modern features that it has such as infrared imaging seeker, advanced image processing, the missile system will be a significant boost to the four dimensional warfare capabilities of our naval vessels to make them more effective, more formidable in their multi-role operations.

Overall, this upgrade in our vessels’ weaponry will further enhance our naval presence within our territorial domain. With the live-test firing of the Mistral 3 onboard the BRP Jose Rizal, we are not only celebrating an isolated achievement or a single success. More significantly, it coincides with the anniversary of the Philippine Navy.

May it serve to symbolize the strength of our resolve to make reality the grander visions and plans to modernize our naval capabilities and our Armed Forces.

We will not stop with just this exercise. This will not be the last of its kind. We set our sights on the completion and eventual commissioning of the rest of the Philippine Navy projects in the pipeline. By now, in horizons one, two, and three of the AFP modernization program.

As we do so, let us likewise ensure parallel training and capacity building for our personnel, especially for those who would actually operate and maneuver these major naval assets and with the backing of their highly technical training. I urge the entire rank of the Philippine Navy to keep up the good work continually guided by the national interest and the democratic ideals of the Republic of the Philippines.

We have a lot more to do and the rest of our compatriots are counting on us to keep the defense of the nation.

Mabuhay ang Hukbong Dagat at ang buong Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas! Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat. Magandang umaga at mabuhay ang Pilipinas. [applause]

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Watch here: Philippine Navy Capability Demonstration 

Location: BRP Davao Del Sur (LD602), 10 Nautical Miles, West of Naval Station Leovigildo Gantioqui, San Antonio, Zambales