The Philippine Navy on June 9, 2026, welcomed the offshore patrol vessel (OPV) BRP Rajah Lakandula (PS-21) into active service. It is the second Sulayman-class OPV built by HD HHI in South Korea.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led the commissioning ceremony as part of the Navy’s 128th anniversary celebration. The event also marked the first time that one of the Navy’s biggest warships was able to berth at the headquarters in Manila following dredging work completed earlier this year.
After the commissioning, Marcos briefly toured the ship with senior defense and military officials and met with members of its crew.
The BRP Rajah Lakandula, named after a prominent 16th-century ruler of Tondo in present-day Manila, is the second of six 2,400-ton offshore patrol vessels being acquired under a ₱30 billion ($573 million) contract signed with South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai in 2022. The remaining ships are scheduled to be delivered in batches through 2028.
The vessels are equipped with a Leonardo Super Rapid 76mm main gun, an Aselsan SMASH 30mm secondary gun, Terma C-Guard decoy launching systems, a Leonardo SPS-732 search radar, and a Safran Paseo XLR electro-optical/infrared system. As previously reported by Naval News, this class of OPV is also equipped with a non-lethal effector while the Philippine Navy also plans to acquire modular towed-array sonar systems for three of the six ships.
“Strengthening the Philippine Navy’s capabilities remains essential to protecting our interests in the West Philippine Sea in light of the broader realities of our time,” Marcos said in his remarks.
“In this environment, a credible Philippine Navy is indispensable to regional peace. Thus, I have directed the Philippine Navy to further strengthen its capabilities,” he said.
Navy Flag Officer in Command Vice Adm. Jose Ma Ambrosio Ezpeleta highlighted the service’s modernization gains over the past year, including the commissioning of what he described as its most modern and capable warships—the BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-6) and BRP Diego Silang (FFG-7)—as well as the offshore patrol vessel BRP Rajah Sulayman (PS-20) and fast attack craft BRP Albert Majini (PG-909) and BRP Audrey Bañares (PG-910), part of the Acero-class Shaldag Mk. V gunboats which were built by Israel Shipyards Ltd.
“We have also seen the delivery of the much-awaited BrahMos shore-based anti-ship missile, a milestone for not just our Navy but for the whole Armed Forces,” he said, referring to a ₱18.9 billion ($374.9 million) contract signed in 2022 for three batteries of the Indian-made supersonic cruise missile system.
The commissioning coincided with renewed concerns over Chinese activities in Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Hours after the ceremony, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea announced that Manila had lodged a diplomatic protest against Beijing over a floating structure detected inside the shoal’s lagoon. The platform, measuring approximately six by six meters, was reportedly equipped with an antenna and appeared to be manned.
