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BRP ''Ang Pangulo'' (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 known 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. ==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. Garcia, 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 Visayan datu, 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 RPS ''Roxas'' after the fifth President of the Philippines, Manuel Roxas, in rites led by his widow, 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 RPS ''The President'' (TP-777) by President Ferdinand E. Marcos on January 11, 1967 and renamed anew as BRP ''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 BRP ''Pag-Asa'' (AT-25) by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in fitting ceremonies celebrating an outstanding legacy of service to the Republic. On 14 December 2011 during ceremonies coinciding commission 2 newly acquired navy ships and a helicopter, the ship was renamed again as BRP ''Ang Pangulo'' (AT-25) "to continue the heritage and carry the honor and prestige of the Philippine presidency.” 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「BRP Ang Pangulo (AT-25)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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