Coast Guard to Congress: Help modernize our fleet

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is urging Congress to pass legislation for its modernization to keep up with international maritime standards as the China Coast Guard (CCG)’s actions in the West Philippine Sea become more aggressive.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG adviser for maritime security, told reporters at a forum in Quezon City yesterday that the PCG’s modernization would allow it to acquire more sophisticated offshore patrol vessels for deployment to the country’s maritime borders.

“I think what we need right now is the Philippine Coast Guard modernization law so that we will be able to program those acquisitions of coast guard offshore patrol vessels, additional aircraft, enhancing our maritime domain and building more radar, AIS and lighthouses in different coastal areas in the country,” said Tarriela.

At present, only three offshore patrol vessels are used for monitoring activity in the West Philippine Sea, said Tarriela. Two of these are 97-meter vessels from Japan and the third, an 83-meter vessel from France.

The PCG’s 44-meter vessel BRP Malapascua is also in use, but not for regular maritime operations given its size. Tarriela explained it would take about 15 days for the vessel to reach the areas of Sabina and Ayungin Shoals.

“We have a limited fuel capacity (for the BRP Malapascua), if the waves are too big for such a small vessel, it really cannot sustain patrols and would have to return (to port),” Tarriela said in Filipino.

“That’s why we have been requesting our legislators to support the modernization [of the PCG] for us to acquire more offshore patrol vessels,” he said.

Under the current set-up, it would be difficult for the PCG to monitor the entire West Philippine Sea due to the limited number of offshore patrol vessels.

Tarriela pointed out that the PCG does not even have its own headquarters and berthing areas, so its vessels are using berthing spaces of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), which are intended for commercial use.

He said PCG’s modernization should go hand-in-hand with the modernization of the Philippine Navy and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to build a credible defense capability.