GORDON WANTS RP TO BUILD ITS OWN SHIPS TO BOOST MILITARY CAPABILITY

Senator Richard J. Gordon has called on the government to develop Filipinos' abilities to build our own ships to ensure that the military will have the capability to secure the country and its territorial waters from piracy and terrorism.

"We are an archipelagic country; we should be able to build ships. We should have ships made in the Philippines - in Cebu, in Hanjin in Subic. We should really make an effort to strengthen our military, because we are facing both internal and external threats. At the same time, we should consistently assert our national territory, which includes Scarborough Shoal and Benham Rise, in no uncertain terms," he said.

Gordon said the recent launching by Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction-Philippines of the first-ever Subic-made 20,600-TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit) class container vessel shows that Filipinos has the talent for building our own ships.

He added that adding naval architectural designing in the curriculum of the country's maritime academies and institutions would step up Filipinos' craftsmanship in designing vessels.

"Building our own ships would be cheaper and it would give our naval architectural designers a chance to get what we want. Dapat maglagay na tayo ng sarili nating capability to build our own ships," the senator noted.

"I have always advocated that we should build our naval and coast guard assets. Our Navy and Coast Guard must have sufficient capability to patrol and protect our territory and sovereignty. That is why during the TRAIN deliberations, I even pushed for the earmarking of revenues for military modernization and the President personally assured that he will make military modernization a priority," he added.