[7] The offshore patrol vessel (OPV) was constructed by French shipbuilder OCEA S.A. under the "Philippine Ports and Coast Guard Capability Development" program of the Department of Transportation.

[13] The OPV then transferred to Catania, Sicily in Italy as it was also instructed to be on stand-by since the ongoing civil war in Libya as the country's capital Tripoli has been besieged, forcing Filipino embassy officials and workers to evacuate.

As the situation of Filipinos in Libya became better, the OPV was instructed to return home to the Philippines, passing through the Suez Canal in Egypt and conducting another technical stopover in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

[14] Secretary of Transportation Arthur Tugade and PCG Commandant, Adm. Joel Garcia led a private commissioning ceremony aboard the ship docked at Pier 15 in South Harbor.

[8] During the height of the enhanced community quarantine amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, PCG used the BRP Gabriela Silang to ferry frontline health workers, medical supplies, PPE, and medicines to regional hospitals in the country.

It details her size of 84×16 meter all-aluminium build (which was a world-first) yet performed excellently even during her very maiden voyage before being commissioned, responding to a civil war in Libya and tensions between the US and Iran in the Middle East by repatriating OFWs; her contribution to COP21 Paris Agreement; being tailor-made to a vast archipelagic tropical environment; among others.