The Philippine Navy rejected criticism on Saturday that it is has become irrelevant in defending the country’s territory given its very limited resources.

Navy Flag Officer in-Command Vice Admiral Ferdinand Golez said although the country’s naval fleet lags behind other countries in the region such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and even Vietnam, the Philippine Navy still plays a vital role in the protection of the country’s shores, given the fact that the Philippines is an archipelagic country surrounded by seas and composed of more than 7,000 scattered islands.

Golez said while the Philippine Navy may be lacking in resources, it nonetheless has enough effective human resources.

Navy spokesman, Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, echoed Golez’s statement, saying “ang tingin ng iba kawawa ang Navy natin. That we are below par because we don’t have modern equipment. That’s because we are inferior, therefore we are irrelevant.”

The two Navy officials, however, said people should see beyond the limited resources of the Navy, saying it should not be the barometer for the relevance of the country’s naval force.

During an interview with Golez, he openly admitted that the Navy, at present, has obsolescent equipment, some of which are already 50 to 60-years-old. He even pointed to a ship docked at the Navy headquarters along Roxas Boulevard, which he said has seen action during World War II and the Vietnam War.

“But we still manage to operate them despite and in spite their antiquity,” he said.

He also admitted that it is more expensive to maintain an already aged vessel than acquiring a new one. “But we cannot dispense with all them, otherwise we’ll have no more ships…what we can do is, we are now trying to upgrade on our current capability,” he said, adding, “while the ship is already old, it still serves its purpose.”

Golez further said that people should understand that what the country’s defense forces are addressing now is internal security. “So we don’t need big ships. But we have to transcend to that. Once we will be able to solve our security problem then we have to transcend to territorial defense,” he said.

According to Golez, the Navy’s capability program has been defined by the Department of National Defense (DND) through Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. “That is already contained in our capability upgrade program as defined by our secretary of National Defense. There is already a series of activities that will allow us to improve our ships, as well as other equipment for the sailors and marines.”

At present, he said, the immediate requirement of the Navy would be the acquisition of multi-role vessels. Asked when this kind of vessel can be acquired by the Navy, Golez said it will depend on the availability of funds but this should not take two years.

Golez further said the Navy’s limited resources do not have that much effect on its operations. “It’s not affecting us much because we don’t have that requirement yet. What is required of us is to be able to transport our personnel and equipment from one place to another because of the primary security requirement that we have.”

“But of course, a navy is supposed to defend a country,” Golez said, adding, “Once we transcend into that mode, meaning territorial defense, this threat of internal security can already be given to the coast guard, it can be given to the Maritime police.”

For his part, Arevalo explained, “We have contemporary needs at the moment and having state of the art equipment should not be our barometer of relevance as far as the Navy is concerned.”

“We are doing a lot of things like disaster-relief operations. We are also performing non-traditional roles, including enforcement of environmental and aquatic laws. These are the things na ginagawa natin that still makes us relevant,” he said.

Arevalo said it would be nice to have modern equipment like a submarine but the military, at the moment, do not have the funds needed to acquire one. “So bakit hindi na lang tayo bumili ng vessels na mas needed like the Multi-Purpose Attack Craft (MPACs). Bumili tayo ng tatlo just recently, dumating ito last May,” he said, adding one MPAC costs about P72 million, which is a relatively small amount compared to the cost of big vessels. He added MPACs have vast contribution to naval operations.

The multi-role vessels, on the other hand, costs around P100 million each.

“Given what we have at the moment, the Navy is still relevant and is able to fulfill its role,” he said.