The Philippine Navy conducted commissioning and send-off ceremonies for two newly-acquired and Israel-made fast attack interdiction craft missile vessels named after two Marines who were posthumous Medal of Valor awardees on Monday.

The ceremonies for BRP Nestor Acero and BRP Lolonato To-Ong was led by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin as guest of honor and speaker, and Navy Flag Officer in Command Rear Admiral Toribio Adaci Jr.

"Today I'm thrilled to welcome all of you to the commissioning and send off ceremony of the two newest vessels of the Philippine Navy. After almost three months of training, harbor and sea acceptance test we are sending off two vessels which also adds to the count in our fleet inventory, two of the nine Sheldag Mark 5 high-speed vessels which we have procured from the Israel Shipyards Limited in Israel," Adaci said.

"This is the tranche of the nine platforms that we have acquired through the revised Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program," he added.

Acero and To-Ong were posthumous Philippine Marines Medal of Valor awardees. Acero was killed in 1972 in Jolo, while To-Ong perished in Maguindanao in 2000.

In his speech, Bersamin urged the Philippine Navy to continue its effort "in developing a modern and capable naval force."

"You should also continue to provide credible deterence in safeguarding the littorals of the country and in addressing the current and emerging security challenges like international terrorism and organized transnational crimes that demand the most attention as they take advantage of the weak spots of our maritime defense, the parallel upgrade of the naval shipyard enable it locally manufacture these gunboats," he said.

"It is a welcome development in the AFP modernization program and complies fully with the guidance of the president for our self reliant defense posture. To you the sailors of BRP Nestor Acero and BRP Lolinato To-Ong go forth and fashion your own legacy but never forget the sacrifices of the gallant men whom these vessels were named after. carry out your missions to protect our country with the highest sense of professionalism and excellence. I am confident that you can make our countrymen proud," he added.

In an interview with reporters, Adaci noted that the actual deployment for the vessels are still being discussed but he noted that the priority includes the West Philippine Sea and the Southern Philippine waters.

Adaci said the four other vessels "will be delivered next year and the remaining three shall be the ones to be constructed at the naval shipyard."

"The last three boats shall be assembled in Cavite City, we have our naval shipyard in Cavite and what they are doing are, they are trying to rehabilitate these old facility to make it a modern one and design for these types of vessels so in that way our people can learn from how they do it, how they maintain these Acero class boats and that would be the start of our transfer of technology, it's a portion of our self -reliant defense posture," he said.

Adaci said the nine boats including its missiles and the weapon systems amounting to P10 billion will complete its last three units in 2024. Robina Asido/DMS