PCG to use intel funds for upgrades

MANILA, Philippines — Intelligence funds realigned to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) would be used to upgrade its surveillance and intelligence-gathering capabilities as well as to acquire more equipment, its spokesman Rear Admiral Armand Balilo said yesterday.

“Our focus will be to improve our surveillance and intelligence gathering at the West Philippine Sea (WPS),” Balilo said.

He added their system upgrade would cover “systems applicable in signal and cyber intelligence.”

PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said he is “certain that the funds that would be re-allocated to the Philippine Coast Guard will go a long way.”

The two PCG officers were reacting to Congress’ decision to realign to agencies involved in WPS matters more than P600 million in confidential and intelligence funds requested by Vice President Sara Duterte for her office and for the Department of Education that she heads. The decision came amid Duterte’s unclear justification for her request as well as new cases of Chinese intimidation in Philippine waters.

Lately, the Chinese coast guard deployed small rubber boats to prevent Filipino fishermen from entering the lagoon of Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal. The latest restriction came after the PCG removed the floating barrier installed by the CCG in the shoal.

Earlier, Philippine vessels delivering provisions for troops on BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal had to play cat and mouse with CCG ships so they could unload their cargo on the decrepit World War II era transport ship that now serves as Philippine military outpost.

In one such encounter, the Chinese fired water cannon at a Philippine boat to force it to abandon its mission to resupply the Sierra Madre.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) also lauded the planned realignment of CIF to agencies involved in protecting the West Philippine Sea.

“This initiative would empower our agency to strengthen and enhance our existing monitoring, control and surveillance activities in the WPS and other fishing grounds to ensure the sustainable use of our marine resources and safeguard the livelihoods of our fisherfolk,” BFAR national director Demosthenes Escoto said in a statement.

Asked about the amount that would be realigned to BFAR, chief information officer Nazatio Briguera said they have not yet determined it.

BFAR said it has been actively combating illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing activities using limited resources.

It added it employs floating assets to monitor unlawful fishing activities and conducts resupply missions in collaboration with government agencies, particularly the PCG.

“The BFAR respects the wisdom of our lawmakers in determining the need for budget augmentation,” Escoto said.

“Nevertheless, the BFAR remains committed to combating IUU fishing and empowering Filipino fisherfolk with our existing assets and resources. We want to ensure they can fish peacefully, productively and sustainably in our waters, especially in the WPS, which rightfully belongs to Filipinos,” he said.

Meanwhile, militant fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) has called on the Marcos administration to demand at least P223.2 billion in compensation from China for the destruction of 12,400 hectares of coral reefs in the West Philippine Sea.

“We demand the Marcos administration to charge China the remuneration for its aggression and plunder, not to mention the cost of its back rent for the years of illegal occupation of our sea features,” Pamalakaya chairman Fernando Hicap said in a statement. – Danessa Rivera, Romina Cabrera