Australia to sign Framework Agreement for the Production of the Phl Navy’s OPV

A Scale Model of Austal's proposed OPV for the PN, Photo by rhk111 thru Wikimedia Commons

The Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Steven Robinson AO in an Interview with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) said that the Australian Government will sign a Framework Agreement with Austal Philippines Pty Ltd and the Department of National Defense (DND) later this Month (February 2021) for the Production of Patrol Vessels. 

This will be for the 6 Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) of the Philippine Navy (PN) which will be produced in Austal’s Shipbuilding Facility in Cebu for the next 5 Years. 

Austal deal for OPVs expected to move forward

The deal with Austal and the Australian Government to build the Philippine Navy’s (PN) Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) is expected to move forward now that the Philippine Government has lifted the ban on Loans and Grants on countries that endorsed a United Nations (UN) resolution last year.

The UN Resolution called for an investigation on President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on Illegal Drugs, and Australia was one of the countries which endorsed that resolution. Hopefully a Contract will be signed soon.

SOURCE: Australia Shipbuilder closes in on $600m Philippine Defense Deal

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Austal OPV Update – 10/18/19

Just some updates on the Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) that Austal is offering to the Philippine Navy (PN):

‘OPV Status’
First is that Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that he had already gotten an informal approval from President Rodrigo Duterte as narrated in the Philippine News Agency (PNA) article to exempt the project from the Foreign Loan Ban that was enforced recently.

This is good news for Austal Philippines and I hope that this will be made official soon. Note that the delivery of these vessels seems relatively fast as the first on is expected to be made 18 months or 1 ½ years once the deal is formalized.

‘OPV Display’
Second is that a large scale model of the OPV is currently on display at the Quezon City Experience (QCX) Museum as part of the “Mateship and Bayanihan Exhibit: The Story of Philippine-Australian Defense Ties” which showcases the defense ties between the Philippines and Australia.

The exhibit is open for free to the public and will run until October 30, 2019. The museum is open Mondays to Fridays from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

I have no plans to go to see the exhibit for now as I have seen and taken pictures and videos of the Austal OPV scale models a number of times already, but if you are curious and near the area, then you can go there. The QCX Museum is located inside the Quezon Memorial Circle, and here is the link to the museum’s location on Google Maps: QCX Google Maps Link

And here is also the link to the official Facebook page of the QCX Museum in case you want to ask them something directly: QCX Museum Official Facebook Page

REFERENCES:
* Lorenzana confident OPV Deal with Austal exempted from Loans Ban
* Frances Mangosing Twitter Post 10/18/19
* Philipine News Agency (PNA) Official Facebook Page Post 10/18/19

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P30-B Australian loan for Ships at risk of being scrapped under Duterte order

Well, as I mentioned before, IF President Rodrigo Duterte does not give an exemption to the military for the ban on Loans and Grants from countries like Australia, then one alternative would be for the government to just go with building the Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) without the loan if possible.

If that is not an option, then maybe Australia and Austal could move fast to come up with some financial maneuvering that would allow Australia to directly deal with Austal and thus allow Austal to give more lenient payment terms to the Philippines, or something like that.

Worst case (at least for Austal) is if some other country agrees to shoulder a similar loan deal for the Philippines. In a separate piece of news this morning, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said that they are now in exploratory talks with some countries to pick up the loans from the countries that were banned.

He did not mention which countries they are now talking to, though. But I wonder which countries those are? South Korea, Israel and maybe our new friend Russia also? Or how about that country that the Opposition finds so paranoid about, it starts with the letter “C” … “Cuba”. Just kidding, I meant “China”, LOL.

Anyway, let’s wait if Duterte gives an exemption to the military or not.

SOURCES:
* P30-B Australian Loan for Ships at risk of being scrapped under Duterte order
* PHL in talks for Loans from other Countries — DOF

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