Coast Guard needs more personnel to patrol seas

Members of the Philippine Coast Guard in action. AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will hire an additional 1,000 uniformed personnel this year and another 2,000 in the next two years to meet its goal of having a “10,000-strong command” by the end of President Aquino’s term in 2016.

The PCG, an agency attached to the Department of Transportation and Communication, has only 606 officers and 6,143 enlisted personnel who are tasked to guard the country’s more than 36,000 kilometers of coastline and thousands of coastal communities depending on the nation’s vast marine resources.

Commander Armand Balilo, the PCG spokesman, on Thursday said “this year, recruiting at least 1,000 uniformed personnel is our target.”

Bigger goal

“But our bigger goal is to have 10,000 uniformed personnel within the next three years. Ideally, we should have that number of personnel,” he told the Inquirer.

An undisclosed number of new recruits will be assigned at the PCG’s new search-and-rescue base in Roxas City, Capiz, said Balilo, also chief of the agency’s Public Affairs Office.

In a phone interview, he also disclosed that “with the ongoing personnel recruitment program, the command has also started preparing for the manning of the 10 brand-new patrol boats that we’re getting from Japan in the next two years.”

More patrol vessels

The command expects delivery of two to three of the 10 patrol vessels by the third quarter of 2015. The seven other 40-meter (131-foot) vessels would be delivered the following year.

The Philippine and Japanese governments had “agreed that all 10 patrol boats will be brand-new and multi-role,” he said earlier.

In December, Malacañang announced that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) would provide a $184-million soft loan for the PCG’s acquisition of the vessels.

The Palace asserted the patrol boats would boost the country’s maritime security.

The Coast Guard’s current fleet consists of nine boats, which are mainly utilized in search-and-rescue operations.

Some PCG personnel also man several vessels belonging to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in the campaign against illegal fishing and poaching in the country’s territorial waters.

Safety at sea

Aside from its uniformed personnel, the agency also has 299 civilian employees plus some 6,000 auxiliaries or volunteers nationwide who help it promote safety of life and property at sea and protect the marine environment, among other Coast Guard mandates.

From only P2 billion in 2010, the PCG’s annual budget now stands at more than P4.3 billion.

Balilo pointed out that their “increased budget” would boost the command’s operational and administrative capabilities.

He expressed confidence they would get another budget increase next year, saying “it’s good we’re getting full support from the government.”

The command, he added, “is in a better position to enforce Republic Act No. 9983,” or the Coast Guard Act of 2009, which aims to further enhance maritime safety and prevent sea tragedies, as well as address other challenges, like natural disasters and the adverse effects of climate change, among others.