Manila, June 9 -- Philippine Navy chief, Vice Admiral Jose Ma. Ambrosio Ezpeleta on Tuesday said the strong support from the government, led by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., has allowed the service to acquire more modern equipment to help it carry out its mandate of protecting the country's vast waters.

He was referring to the two newly-acquired guided missile frigates now in PN inventory, the BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-6) and the BRP Diego Silang (FFG-7), which were delivered and commissioned last year, and are now considered the service's most up-to-date "gray ships."

Ezpeleta also cited the commissioning of the offshore patrol vessel, BRP Rajah Lakandula (PS-21), which was commissioned earlier in the morning; its sister ship, the B...