25 August 2016 —US Coast Guard (USCG) 14th District Commander RADM Vincent Atkins welcomed Philippine Consul General to Honolulu Gina Jamoralin aboard a USCG cutter in Honolulu on August 17.
Consul General Jamoralin was accompanied by Philippine AFP Liaison Officer to USPACOM Capt. Rey dela Cruz (PN) and Asst. Liaison Officer Colonel Rolando Orengo (PA). USCG 14th District headquarters in Honolulu is responsible for the Hawaiian Islands, Guam, American Samoa and activities in Saipan, Singapore and Japan.
Consul General Jamoralin and her delegation were briefed about the activities and organization of USCG 14th District and were toured inside the ship. Consul General Jamoralin also briefed RADM Atkins on the current activities of the Philippine Coast Guard and thanked him for the recent transfer of a decommissioned US Coast Guard’s USS Boutwell (WHEC 719) to the Philippine Navy on July 21, 2016. The said vessel is a former high endurance Coastguard cutter.
The USCGC Boutwell, the third US cutter transferred to the Philippines through the United States Excess Defense Articles program, will be designated a Philippine frigate named BRP Andres Bonifacio.
RADM Atkins expressed enthusiasm to the continuing collaboration between the United States and Philippine Coast Guards particularly in the areas of search and rescue and capacity building. The USCG took part in the United States’ disaster and humanitarian response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines on November 2013.
The US Coast Guard 14th District actively participated in the 2016 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Multilateral Maritime Exercises held last month in Pearl Harbor and in the US-PH Mutual Defense Board- Security Engagement Board (MDB-SEB) Executive Committee Meeting held in Honolulu from August 09 to 12 through the Maritime Security Working Group. END
