Philippines to get five French patrol boats

By Mei Jingya, Sina English

The Philippines will buy five patrol boats from France for about 90 million euros (US$116 million), partly to guard disputed areas in the South China Sea, the coastguard said Tuesday.

Rear Admiral Luis Tuason, the chief of the poorly-equipped coastguard, said one 82-metre (271-foot) ship and four 24-metre (79-foot) patrol craft would be delivered by 2014.

Tuason cited the need for such ships to patrol the rough waters of the South China Sea.

Coastguard spokesman Lieutenant Commander Armand Balilo said the larger ship was a "heavy endurance vessel that can be deployed even in bad weather".

This is the first such ship to be acquired by the coastguard, he added.

The Philippines and China began a stand-off in April over the Huangyan Island.

Balilo denied that the new French ships were sought after due to the territorial dispute and said the coastguard, which currently has only nine operating ships, needed new vessels to perform their duties.