Philippines won’t lose centimeter of territory – PCG chief

MANILA, Philippines — New Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan vowed yesterday that he would not issue any directive that would cause the country to lose even a centimeter of its territory.

Gavan, who will serve as PCG commandant until 2025, echoed the statement of President Marcos in yesterday’s turnover ceremony that he would not allow the Philippines to lose an inch of its territory.

He became the 30th commandant of the PCG, taking the helm from Admiral Artemio Abu who retired yesterday after 35 years of service. Abu will reach the mandatory retirement age of 56 today.

This was reportedly the first time in the Coast Guard’s history that a new commandant is installed and donned his 4th star (Admiral) during a change of command.

“As always I will remain steadfast in protecting our country’s maritime interest and territories, particularly our country’s sovereignty and sovereign rights as well as protecting the livelihood of our fisherfolks and other users. To echo the very clear guidance of our President, President Marcos, as the commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard, I will never issue any directive that would cause us to lose even a centimeter of our territory,” Gavan said.

The change of command ceremony was presided over by Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, who said he hopes Gavan would continue leading with an “innate peace mindset” and to steer the country away from deterioration in a volatile situation in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

“My belief that Admiral Ronnie Gavan will do the same is anchored on his record of shifting to the ‘white hull approach’ when securing our maritime borders and his introduction of female radio operators, called ‘angels of the sea’ as a way of defusing tension during sea conflict,” Bautista said in his speech.

Gavan, in a short interview after the ceremonies, also promised to be “more calibrating” in dealing with the WPS issue.

“We will continue with what we have started. We would do it more passionately, bigger, but we will be more calibrating. We would be employing the appropriate responses in every particular situation,” he said.

He also promised to deploy more PCG ships to accompany boats in resupply missions, although he qualified that this would “depend on the situation on the ground” and when it “requires that we have more platform, more ships.”

At present, the PCG only deploys two of its vessels as escorts in resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre.

Gavan said he intends to create more PCG detachments in the WPS, noting that the PCG only has five detachments in the area – the Pagasa Island, Lawak Island, Likas Island and Panatag Shoal (also referred to as Scarborough Shoal and Bajo de Masinloc).