Coast Guard to heighten security after Zamboanga pirate attack
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday said that it will impose additional security measures for the safety of fishing and shipping vessels nationwide, especially in the southern part of the country, following the killing of eight fishermen by pirates in Zamboanga.
Commodore Joel Garcia, PCG officer-in-charge said that they would like to issue numbers for each vessel to ensure that it is legitimate and bears no threat of danger.
Garcia compared this to “plate numbers” of land vehicles, where all records of vehicles are only in one database so they can easily track if any vessel or vehicle was used in any illegal activity or if it got involved in a maritime accident.
“(Magdadagdag po tayo ng) maritime security measures katulad ng identification ng rate ng frequency ng daan nila at anong oras dumadaan upang malaman natin kung kailan po tayo mag-iincrease ng presence at patrolya,” he told Radyo Inquirer.
(We will be imposing additional security measures such as identifying the frequency rate of their passage and the time when they pass by to identify when we need to increase our presence and patrollers.)
Garcia said that this was among the measures they will be imposing in response to the recent attack of pirates on a fishing boat in Zamboanga.
PCG reported the killing of eight fishermen, including two minors, in what appeared to be an attack by pirates in dangerous waters off the Zamboanga Peninsula on Monday.
READ: Pirates attack fish boat, kill 8
Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said the authorities were investigating the incident, including reports of a clan feud in Dita and Curuan villages in Zamboanga City that could be a reason for the attack.
PCG is also considering the Abu Sayyaf as suspects in the said killing. CDG/rga
