The Philippine Navy is the naval

Navy

A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...

 arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines

Armed Forces of the Philippines

The Armed Forces of the Philippines is composed of the Philippine Army, Philippine Navy and Philippine Air Force...

 (AFP). Its official name in Filipino

Filipino language

This move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:...

 is Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, literally, "Sea Force of the Philippines".

Philippine Navy ships are prefixed "BRP" (Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas or Bapor ng Republika ng Pilipinas; in English, "Ship of the Republic of the Philippines.")

On January 4, 2011, Rear Admiral

Rear Admiral

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

 Alexander Pama assumed command as the new Flag Officer-in-Command (FOIC).
The need of a naval force was illustrated when the Filipino revolutionaries

Philippine Revolution

The Philippine Revolution , called the "Tagalog War" by the Spanish, was an armed military conflict between the people of the Philippines and the Spanish colonial authorities which resulted in the secession of the Philippine Islands from the Spanish Empire.The Philippine Revolution began in August...

 included a provision in the Biak-na-Bato Constitution authorizing the government to license privateers to engage foreign enemy vessels.

In the English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 version of the same constitution, it was stipulated that after the army

Philippine Army

The Philippine Army is the ground arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines . Its official name in Tagalog is Hukbong Katihan ng Pilipinas. On July 23, 2010, President Benigno Aquino III appointed Maj. Gen...

 was organized, another such force should be created for the protection of the coasts of the Philippines and its seas, with a Secretary of the Navy being appointed to head this force.

The infant Philippine Navy was established during the Philippine Revolution, when General Emilio Aguinaldo

Emilio Aguinaldo

Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader. He played an instrumental role during the Philippines' revolution against Spain, and the subsequent Philippine-American War or War of Philippine Independence that resisted American occupation...

 formed the Revolutionary Navy, which then consisted of the pinnace

Pinnace (ship's boat)

As a ship's boat the pinnace is a light boat, propelled by sails or oars, formerly used as a "tender" for guiding merchant and war vessels. In modern parlance, pinnace has come to mean a boat associated with some kind of larger vessel, that doesn't fit under the launch or lifeboat definitions...

 Magdalo and several steam launch

Launch (boat)

A launch in contemporary usage refers to a large motorboat. The name originally referred to the largest boat carried by a warship. The etymology of the word is given as Portuguese lancha "barge", from Malay lancha, lancharan, "boat," from lanchar "velocity without effort," "action of gliding...

es captured from the Spanish.