BRP Pag-asa (AT-25)
Encyclopedia
BRP Pag-Asa (AT-25) is a presidential yacht
and was acquired by the Philippine government in 1959. The yacht was first used by President Carlos P. Garcia
for entertaining and over the years the yacht has know many famous guests including British ballerina Margot Fonteyn
, actress Brooke Shields
, dancer Rudolf Nureyev
, concert pianist Van Cliburn
and Cristina Ford
, former wife of Henry Ford II
, who was once chairman of Ford Motor Co. In 2008, the Philippines government addressed the concerns regarding overspending on government luxuries and under the rule of President Arroyo transformed this presidential yacht into a mobile medical facility renaming it to its current name.
, the vessel was designed specifically for use as a presidential yacht by Filipino naval engineers, and was christened with its original name of RPS Lapu-Lapu, named after the National Hero Lapu-Lapu
, and commissioned into the Philippine Navy
on March 7, 1959 as its flagship
, a status it held until December 1961.
President Diosdado Macapagal
in the following year ordered its conversion to a naval troop transport, renaming it R.P.S. Roxas after the fifth President of the Philippines, Manuel Roxas
, in rites led by Mrs. Trinidad Roxas. This was the first time a navy ship had been named in honor of a president.
Later the vessel was renamed RPS The President and then BRP Ang Pangulo by President Ferdinand E. Marcos, who restored its use as the presidential yacht, a status it has retained in all succeeding presidencies to the present day.
President Diosdado Macapagal
himself used another, older, presidential yacht, the RPS Santa Maria, which he renamed RPS Pag-Asa, the name by which it had also been called a decade earlier under President Ramon Magsaysay
. This ship was later decommissioned by the Navy in 1993.
It is in honor of these earlier periods under Presidents Magsaysay and Macapagal, and to emphasize its service to the people throughout the archipelago, that the BRP Ang Pangulo has been renamed BRP Pag-Asa by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
.
As it has throughout the Arroyo administration and over its 50 year life, the vessel, operated by Naval Taskforce “Sealion”, continues at the President’s instruction to carry out relief and medical missions all over the islands, aid in emergency search and rescue efforts, perform naval functions, promote tourism, culture and local products, as well as serve the presidency and the government.
One of 15 ocean-going vessels provided by the Government of Japan
as part of war reparations to the Republic of the Philippines during the administration of President Carlos P. Garcia
, what was first called Bow No. 77 was designed as the Presidential Yacht by Filipino naval engineers and built at the Ishikawajima Dry-Docks in Tokyo
.
Its keel was laid at the Harume Yard on July 16, 1958 and the vessel was launched on October 16 of that year. Sea trials were conducted under Lt. Cmdr. Manuel Mandapat PN, its first commanding officer, on February 9 and 10, 1959. It was designated the flagship of the Philippine Navy by President Garcia through Executive Order on February 13, 1959, and delivered to the Philippine Government on February 28. It was christened RPS Lapu-Lapu (PY-77) and commissioned into the Philippine Navy on March 7. On April 2, the vessel arrived in Manila.
The first presidential engagement held aboard took place on April 7, 1959, and the ship’s first mission, a trade and cultural floating exposition with ports of call in Vietnam
, Thailand
, Singapore
, Indonesia
, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan
, was carried out from April 19 to June 4, 1959. The vessel has since been extensively used for relief, emergency search and rescue, patrol, auxiliary transport and command vessel purposes in addition to performing its duties to the presidency and the government. Many distinguished persons, including General Douglas Macarthur on his sentimental journey in 1961, and numerous heads of state and government, have been aboard as official guests.
Flagship status was revoked by President Diosdado Macapagal on December 31, 1961, and the vessel was renamed RPS Roxas (TP-71) on October 9, 1962, the first instance of a naval ship being named in honor of a Philippine president. It was renamed R.P.S. The President (TP-777) by President Ferdinand E. Marcos on January 11, 1967 and renamed anew as B.R.P. Ang Pangulo (TP-777) on July 1, 1971. Its hull number was altered to AT-25 by President Corazon C. Aquino on September 24, 1986. From 1998 to 2000, extensive refurbishment took place under President Joseph Ejercito Estrada.
On March 6, 2009, the eve of its 50th commissioning anniversary, the ship was renamed B.R.P. Pag-Asa (AT-25) by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in fitting ceremonies celebrating an outstanding legacy of service to the Republic.
Presidential yacht
Presidential yacht may refer to a naval vessel of a country's navy that would be specially used for by the country's President. It is common for a vessel to be designated as the Presidential yacht during a fleet review.Specific vessels include:...
and was acquired by the Philippine government in 1959. The yacht was first used by President Carlos P. Garcia
Carlos P. Garcia
Carlos Polistico García was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist and guerrilla leader...
for entertaining and over the years the yacht has know many famous guests including British ballerina Margot Fonteyn
Margot Fonteyn
Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias, DBE , was an English ballerina of the 20th century. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of all time...
, actress Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields
Brooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
, dancer Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Russian dancer, considered one of the most celebrated ballet dancers of the 20th century. Nureyev's artistic skills explored expressive areas of the dance, providing a new role to the male ballet dancer who once served only as support to the women.In 1961 he...
, concert pianist Van Cliburn
Van Cliburn
Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. is an American pianist who achieved worldwide recognition in 1958 at age 23, when he won the first quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War....
and Cristina Ford
Cristina Ford
Cristina Vettore Austin, who became commonly known as Cristina Ford or Mrs. Henry Ford II, was the second wife of former president, chairman, and chief executive officer of the Ford Motor Company Henry Ford II...
, former wife of Henry Ford II
Henry Ford II
Henry Ford II , commonly known as "HF2" and "Hank the Deuce", was the son of Edsel Ford and grandson of Henry Ford...
, who was once chairman of Ford Motor Co. In 2008, the Philippines government addressed the concerns regarding overspending on government luxuries and under the rule of President Arroyo transformed this presidential yacht into a mobile medical facility renaming it to its current name.
History
RPS Lapu-Lapu (PY-77) was built in Japan as part of that country’s war reparations to the Philippines. At the initiative of President Carlos P. GarciaCarlos P. Garcia
Carlos Polistico García was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist and guerrilla leader...
, the vessel was designed specifically for use as a presidential yacht by Filipino naval engineers, and was christened with its original name of RPS Lapu-Lapu, named after the National Hero Lapu-Lapu
Lapu-Lapu
Lapu-Lapu was the ruler of Mactan, an island in the Visayas, Philippines, who is known as the first native of the archipelago to have resisted the Spanish colonization...
, and commissioned into the Philippine Navy
Philippine Navy
The Philippine Navy is the naval arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines . Its official name in Filipino is Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, literally, "Sea Force of the Philippines"....
on March 7, 1959 as its flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
, a status it held until December 1961.
President Diosdado Macapagal
Diosdado Macapagal
Diosdado Pangan Macapagal was the ninth President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth Vice President, serving from 1957 to 1961. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives, and headed the Constitutional Convention of 1970...
in the following year ordered its conversion to a naval troop transport, renaming it R.P.S. Roxas after the fifth President of the Philippines, Manuel Roxas
Manuel Roxas
Manuel Acuña Roxas was the first president of the independent Third Republic of the Philippines and fifth president overall. He served as president from the granting of independence in 1946 until his abrupt death in 1948...
, in rites led by Mrs. Trinidad Roxas. This was the first time a navy ship had been named in honor of a president.
Later the vessel was renamed RPS The President and then BRP Ang Pangulo by President Ferdinand E. Marcos, who restored its use as the presidential yacht, a status it has retained in all succeeding presidencies to the present day.
President Diosdado Macapagal
Diosdado Macapagal
Diosdado Pangan Macapagal was the ninth President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth Vice President, serving from 1957 to 1961. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives, and headed the Constitutional Convention of 1970...
himself used another, older, presidential yacht, the RPS Santa Maria, which he renamed RPS Pag-Asa, the name by which it had also been called a decade earlier under President Ramon Magsaysay
Ramon Magsaysay
Ramón del Fierro Magsaysay was the third President of the Republic of the Philippines from December 30, 1953 until his death in a plane crash in 1957. He was elected President under the banner of the Nacionalista Party.-Early life:Ramon F...
. This ship was later decommissioned by the Navy in 1993.
It is in honor of these earlier periods under Presidents Magsaysay and Macapagal, and to emphasize its service to the people throughout the archipelago, that the BRP Ang Pangulo has been renamed BRP Pag-Asa by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is a Filipino politician who served as the 14th President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010, as the 12th Vice President of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, and is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the 2nd District of Pampanga...
.
As it has throughout the Arroyo administration and over its 50 year life, the vessel, operated by Naval Taskforce “Sealion”, continues at the President’s instruction to carry out relief and medical missions all over the islands, aid in emergency search and rescue efforts, perform naval functions, promote tourism, culture and local products, as well as serve the presidency and the government.
One of 15 ocean-going vessels provided by the Government of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as part of war reparations to the Republic of the Philippines during the administration of President Carlos P. Garcia
Carlos P. Garcia
Carlos Polistico García was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist and guerrilla leader...
, what was first called Bow No. 77 was designed as the Presidential Yacht by Filipino naval engineers and built at the Ishikawajima Dry-Docks in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
Its keel was laid at the Harume Yard on July 16, 1958 and the vessel was launched on October 16 of that year. Sea trials were conducted under Lt. Cmdr. Manuel Mandapat PN, its first commanding officer, on February 9 and 10, 1959. It was designated the flagship of the Philippine Navy by President Garcia through Executive Order on February 13, 1959, and delivered to the Philippine Government on February 28. It was christened RPS Lapu-Lapu (PY-77) and commissioned into the Philippine Navy on March 7. On April 2, the vessel arrived in Manila.
The first presidential engagement held aboard took place on April 7, 1959, and the ship’s first mission, a trade and cultural floating exposition with ports of call in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, was carried out from April 19 to June 4, 1959. The vessel has since been extensively used for relief, emergency search and rescue, patrol, auxiliary transport and command vessel purposes in addition to performing its duties to the presidency and the government. Many distinguished persons, including General Douglas Macarthur on his sentimental journey in 1961, and numerous heads of state and government, have been aboard as official guests.
Flagship status was revoked by President Diosdado Macapagal on December 31, 1961, and the vessel was renamed RPS Roxas (TP-71) on October 9, 1962, the first instance of a naval ship being named in honor of a Philippine president. It was renamed R.P.S. The President (TP-777) by President Ferdinand E. Marcos on January 11, 1967 and renamed anew as B.R.P. Ang Pangulo (TP-777) on July 1, 1971. Its hull number was altered to AT-25 by President Corazon C. Aquino on September 24, 1986. From 1998 to 2000, extensive refurbishment took place under President Joseph Ejercito Estrada.
On March 6, 2009, the eve of its 50th commissioning anniversary, the ship was renamed B.R.P. Pag-Asa (AT-25) by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in fitting ceremonies celebrating an outstanding legacy of service to the Republic.