US Coast Guard cites devt of PCG

THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is continuously training with the United States as it prepare to undertake a bigger role from merely patrolling the country’s littoral waters.

The civilian armed uniformed service attached to the Department of Transportation announced plans to purchase additional bigger and French-made vessels. The PCG added it has already ordered a Japanese-made ship, which would become its biggest vessel when it arrives on Philippine shores.

According to US Coast Guard (USCG) Vice Admiral Michael F. Mcallister, the PCG also plans to double its current personnel of 15,000 in an expansion program as the US trains PCG personnel to undertake maritime-domain awareness operations.

“The [PCG] is growing or, at least, has designs to grow rapidly. I believe they have plans to grow to greater than 30,000 members,” Mcallister, commander of the Pacific Area and the Coast Guard Defense Force West, said during a news briefing held online over the weekend.

Maritime-domain awareness operations are currently performed by members of the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Air Force. But with their assets being spread thin given the vast maritime waters, the PCG is being programmed to contribute in securing the country and its waters.

As part of this role, the PCG has activated a task force (“Pagsasanay,” or training), which lumped together PCG ships and Pcg-manned Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels for its first-ever and biggest maritime training exercises in the West Philippine Sea several months ago.

The PCG said that during the training, its ships managed to shoo away Chinese vessels in at least three islands and features owned by the Philippines.

Last week, the PCG undertook maritime exercises with the US Coast Guard Munro in the West Philippine Sea, according to Mcallister.

“The recent exercises included search and rescue, fisheries enforcement and what we call maritime domain awareness, which is just being able to identify activities going on in your sovereign waters, with the idea that you would be able to respond to any threats,” Mcallister said.

“One thing that we are working with the Philippines on in particular is giving them the capacity and the capability to spend more time beyond their littorals, and by that I mean further from shore,” he added.

The USCG-PCG drills followed the exercises held by the Philippine Navy and the Indian Navy, also in the West Philippine Sea.

The PCG and Munro’s searchand-rescue exercise simulated the agencies’ bilateral response to a vessel in distress where PCG personnel aboard Munro also participated in the launch of the US cutter’s small unmanned aircraft system.

While Mcallister refused to dwell on the purpose of holding the drill in the WPS where Chinese vessels are abound, he emphasized the necessity for the PCG to perform its mission and enforce its mandate of guarding the country’s maritime waters.

“I’m not going to say that activity near the Scarborough Shoals was necessarily intended to send a message, but when you think about the Philippines’ claim for their waters, that opportunity to get them out further from shore, do maritime awareness, and – when appropriate – enforce laws and treaties within their exclusive economic zone, it simply requires that we get them further from shore,” Mcallister said.