Claim: The corvettes acquired by the Department of National Defense for the Philippine Navy in December 2021 are larger than the Jose Rizal-class frigates previously bought by the country.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The YouTube video containing the claim has over 492 likes and 36,000 views as of writing.

Smaller than frigates: Former defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana was quoted in two reports published by the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on December 14 and 28, 2021, saying the newly-acquired corvettes are smaller than the Jose Rizal-class frigates which were also bought from shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).

“They are smaller than the (two Jose Rizal-class frigates) but will also be sufficiently armed,” Lorenzana said in the PNA reports.

The former defense secretary did not give the exact measurements of the newly acquired-corvettes in the report.

Department of National Defense (DND) spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a PNA report published on July 29, 2022, that steel cutting for the two corvettes is expected by the fourth quarter of 2022.

Part of Philippine Navy modernization:  The acquisition of the two corvettes is part of the Philippine Navy’s Corvette Acquisition Program (CAP) signed by former president Rodrigo Duterte in May 2019.

The CAP is part of the military’s modernization program along with several other vessels. – Lorenz Pasion/Rappler.com

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