Another US warship to visit PHL

source: www.gmanetwork.com

A United States Navy guided missile destroyer will arrive in Subic Bay in Zambales on Tuesday for a routine port visit, the American embassy said Monday.

The USS Stockdale (DDG-106), the third US vessel to visit the Philippines since January, will replenish supplies as well as offer its crew an opportunity for rest and relaxation, the embassy said in a statement.

The Stockdale's routine port call and goodwill visit at Subic Bay — once one of the largest US military installations in the world outside of the American mainland — “is a great opportunity to continue the long-term relationship between the Philippines and the United States,” said ship commanding officer Cdr. Lex Walker.

This will be the Stockdale’s first visit to the Philippines. The visit is part of the ship’s nine-month deployment to the Western Pacific that began in January 2013.

During the visit, Stockdale sailors will also engage in a number of community relations projects including visits to local orphanages, the embassy said.

The USS Stockdale was commissioned on April 18, 2009, and is homeported in San Diego, California. It is named for Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, who was the highest ranking US naval officer to be held as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam.

Walker also spoke about the diversity of his crew. “We have quite a few Filipino –American Sailors among our crew, and I hope that the citizens of the Philippines can look at our ship and see that their people and their culture are well represented and respected in the U.S. Navy.”

Some 15 Filipino-Americans sail aboard the USS Stockdale, among them sailors with family ties to Baguio City, Manila, Marikina City, Orion, Olongapo City, Quezon City, and Santa Monica.

Some, like Geno C. Uy (GSM2) and Ryan Angeles (AM2), were born in the Philippines and immigrated to the US in recent years. Others, including Joel Marsigian (AM2) and Dean Rivera-Villanueva (ADAN), were born in the US but still have relatives in the Philippines.

Many of the Stockdale’s sailors plan to visit family while in port, the embassy said. — Michaela del Callar/KBK, GMA News

PH assures fines over Tubbataha damage

souce: www.abs-cbnnews.com

MANILA - Malacañang said the Philippine government will still impose fines and ask for compensation from the United States government over the damage of Tubbataha Reef even if it has given assistance for coral restoration efforts.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said a final assessment of the damage will be done after the USS Guardian is extricated.

“That’s not compensation, that’s assistance. We still have to determine the amount of fines that are going to be imposed based on a final assessment on the damage caused to the reef and that has not been done yet,” Lacierda said.

“They’re going to do that over and above the fines that we are going to impose based on the law that we have in place. And certainly we have seen their commitment to preserving the reef as part of their ongoing efforts, previous efforts, and certainly these are acknowledgments of the importance of the richness of the biodiversity that is found in Tubbataha Reef.”

The Guardian became grounded on the Tubbataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in a remote part of the Sulu Sea, on January 17.

The badly damaged minesweeper will need to be dismantled before it is removed.

The US Navy had previously said the boat, which has a wood and fibreglass hull, was too badly damaged to be towed away.

Thousands of litres of oil on board the Guardian have been removed but the vessel is being battered by huge waves, causing it to gouge a destructive trail along the reef, according to superintendent of the Tubbataha marine park Angelique Songco.

She said dismantling the ship would further damage the reef but letting it remain there longer would lead to even more harm.

The US Navy has repeatedly apologised for the incident but has refused to explain publicly why the Guardian was sailing so close to the reef.

This has fueled anger over the incident in the Philippines, a former American colony and important US ally in the Asia-Pacific region.

Vessels sailing into the marine park need permission, but Philippine authorities said the crew of the Guardian had made no request to enter and had even ignored radio messages from government rangers that it was about to hit the reef. -- with Agence France-Presse