The Philippine Navy’s warship BRP Gregorio del Pilar (FF-15) will join the naval drills in Indonesia next week.
A send-off ceremony is scheduled on Friday at the South Harbor in Manila.
The warship is bound for Komodo Island where multilateral naval exercises with the Indonesian Navy will be held from May 4 to 9.
“Exercises Komodo is the third multilateral naval exercise that will be hosted by Indonesia Navy,” said Navy public affairs officer Capt. Lued Lincuna.
The drills aim to strengthen the relationship of the participating navies and build a common understanding on humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations.
The BRP Gregorio del Pilar, a former Hamilton-class high-endurance cutter of the United States Coast Guard, is the lead ship of her class. Her sister ships are BRP Ramon Alcaraz (FF-16) and BRP Andres Bonifacio (FF-17)./ee