THE BRP Andres Bonifacio, the country’s third Hamilton-class or Gregorio del Pilar-class cutter, was dispatched to Malaysia on Tuesday to participate in the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition.
The Andres Bonifacio and its 206-man crew was sent off by Navy Vice Commander Rear Adm. Rafael Mariano in a ceremony at Pier 13 of the Manila South Harbor.
Aside from the maritime exhibition, the Andres Bonifacio will also make port calls at Lumut and Port Klang, Malaysia as part of a new partnership with Malaysia and Indonesia to conduct joint patrols of waters between the three nations.
The Andres Bonifacio was the originally known as the United States Coast Guard Cutter “Boutwell” which was already 49 years old when it was decommissioned in 2016. It was built and launched in 1967.
The Boutwell was one of 12 Hamilton-class cutters that served in the US Coast Guard, which still has three vessels in service. The Philippines acquired three of these cutters as Excess Defense Articles.
The first to be delivered was the first of its class—the USCGC “Hamilton”—which was rechristened the BRP “Gregorio del Pilar” in March 2011. The second was the USCGC Dallas which was renamed BRP “Ramon Alcaraz” in May 2012. The third was the Andres Bonifacio was transferred in July 2016.
The Navy has since renamed the entire class of vessels as the Gregorio del Pilar-class after the first of its kind in the Philippines.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana had earlier said the Andres Bonifacio would be deployed in waters around Sulu to help the BRP Tarlac, an amphibious transport dock, which is involved in anti-terrorism and anti-piracy operations in Sulu province.
