SAN FERNANDO CITY, June 9 (PIA) – The Naval Forces Northern Luzon (NFNL) will send-off the BRP Conrado Yap (PS39) at the Soiltech Pier, Barangay Catbangen, this city on June 10. 

Navy Commander Rodney Cudal, acting public affairs officer of the NFNL, said the PS39 will be given a send-off ceremony in connection with the conduct of maritime patrol in the Philippine Rise as part of the upcoming celebration of the 124th Philippine Independence on June 12.

“The activity will also mark the commemoration of the 6th anniversary of the renaming of Benham Rise to Philippine Rise by the Executive Order 25 signed by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on May 16, 2017, which designated by the Philippines as a protected food supply exclusive zone, prohibiting mining and oil exploration in the plateau,” said Cudal.

LTGEN Ernesto Torres, Jr., commander of the Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM), is expected as the keynote speaker for the event.

Cudal said that other expected guests during the event are operatives from the Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Air Force, Philippine Army, and the local media.

“The PS39 will conduct a maritime patrol to establish a naval presence and assert our sovereignty over that maritime area,” Cudal said.

According to Cudal, the activity will continue to raise awareness of the strategic importance of the Philippine Rise to the country's economic and territorial security.

The Philippine Rise was awarded to the country and granted sovereign rights by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on April 12, 2012.  

It is a seismically active undersea region and extinct volcanic ridge located in the Philippine Sea at approximately 250 kilometers east of the northern coastline of Dinapigue, Isabela. (JCR/AMB/FGL/PIA-1)