The WPS Foundation welcomes the commissioning of BRP SARANGANI (6177) into the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), following the vessel’s formal turnover on 21 September 2026.
BRP SARANGANI, formerly the KINMEN (CG123), was built in 2008. The fully refurbished vessel was acquired by the WPS Foundation and donated to the Philippine Coast Guard at no cost to the Philippine Government, exclusively for civilian maritime use.
The vessel is approximately 61 meters long and 11.7 meters wide, with a displacement of around 688 tons. It gives the PCG an additional platform for maritime patrols, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, marine environmental protection, training, and other civilian missions.
The donation followed months of coordination led by Dr. Jeffrey Ordaniel, President and CEO of the WPS Foundation.
“Our objective was straightforward: if we could bring a capable vessel to the Philippine Coast Guard without asking Filipino taxpayers to foot the bill, we should find a way to make it happen,” Ordaniel said. “It took months of work, but we reached an arrangement that worked.”
The Foundation thanks its partners in Taiwan, including the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines, for their assistance in facilitating the transfer. It also acknowledges the Manila Economic and Cultural Office for its support.
The Foundation thanks Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan, Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard, and the PCG officers and personnel who worked on the acceptance of the vessel.
“Every additional capable vessel means more presence at sea, more capacity for search and rescue, and more options when the Coast Guard is called upon to respond,” Ordaniel said. “That is why we pursued this project.”
The donation also reflects how far practical maritime cooperation between the peoples of the Philippines and Taiwan has come since the difficult 2013 incident involving a Taiwanese fishing vessel. Both sides have since worked to prevent similar incidents and to build cooperation in areas such as maritime safety and search and rescue.
The WPS Foundation believes there is room for further people-to-people and practical cooperation in search and rescue, maritime safety, fisheries, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and marine environmental protection, consistent with the Philippines’ One China Policy.
“Ultimately, this is now a Philippine Coast Guard vessel. What matters is the service it provides to the Filipino people,” Ordaniel said. “We are grateful to everyone who helped make this possible.”