Designated emissary?

The induction of First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos into the auxiliary services of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) speaks volume. Mrs. Marcos was appointed as honorary vice admiral, a three-star rank, of the PCG-Auxiliary. The 64-year-old wife of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was commissioned by PCG Commandant Ronnie Gil Gavan. The PCG is considered as a civilian agency of the government directly attached at the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

Thus, DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista stood witness at the pinning ceremony to the First Lady as the latest recruit of the PCG auxiliary services. The rites held last Tuesday was symbolically held on board the PCG’s BRP (Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas) Gabriela Silang.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday, PCG Commodore Jay Tarriela and retired Supreme Court (SC) senior associate justice Antonio Carpio welcomed Mrs. Marcos into their ranks. Tarriela is the official spokesman for the PCG in the National Task Force – West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS). After joining the PCG in 2005, Tarriela rose through the ranks to become the youngest General at age 42 in the uniformed service in the Philippines.

“Seeing the First Lady wear the same uniform that we wear is something that can boost the morale of our Coast Guard sailors deployed in the West Philippine Sea,” Tarriela beamed proudly. Speaking for the men and women of the PCG, Tarriela sees Mrs. Marcos’ joining their ranks “as support from the First Family, recognizing our role (in the PCG) as we perform our patriotic duty” in the WPS.

Tarriela confirmed there has been indeed declining presence of Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels intruding and have anchored in our country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) at the WPS. However, Tarriela disclosed the so-called “monster ship” 5901 of the CCG still remain anchored at the Escoda Shoal inside our country’s our 200-mile EEZ. Early morning that day as he was speaking at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay, Tarriela showed us their monitoring that CCG’s 5901 ship was just 600 yards away from the PCG’s BRP Teresa Magbanua stationed at Escoda Shoal.

The BRP Teresa Magbanua, named after the “Visayan Joan of Arc” and the BRP Gabriela Silang are the two PCG’s 97-meter patrol vessel being deployed regularly going around in patrol of our disputed overlapping maritime claims with Beijing at the South China Sea (SCS). Both named after our heroines during the Philippine revolution against Spain, the two patrol vessels were among the procured ships added to the PCG fleet through soft loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Incidentally, the Philippines entered last week into a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japan. The RAA is reportedly being frowned upon as incongruent to the zone of peace and neutrality agreement among fellow member states of the Philippines in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). This was ostensibly expressed by some of the ten-member states of the ASEAN during the 8th anniversary observance of the Philippine victory at The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that ruled as invalid Beijing’s nine-dash claims in the SCS.

Only the Ambassador of Vietnam in Manila attended the anniversary program while the rest merely sent their respective deputies to the affair. The respective ambassadors of Japan, Australia, Canada, France and several European Union states, the US, to name some, were in full attendance in joining the anniversary program. They all reiterated support to the “rules-based” international laws adhered to by the Philippines in resolving the irritants at the WPS/SCS,

Fortunately, there has been notable decline lately of CCG ships encroaching at our WPS. It came after a few weeks after the latest Philippines and China Bilateral Consultation Meeting (BCM) reached agreement to finally activate the “hotline” of direct communications between top-level officials of Manila and Beijing concerning incidents at the SCS/WPS.

This should hopefully prevent a repeat of CCG personnel committing “pirates-like” attack on Philippine Navy resupply mission at the BRP Sierra Madre ditched within our 200-mile EEZ at the Ayungin Shoal in WPS.

Asked if the First Lady would be asked to join PCG operations particularly in the WPS, Tarriela pointed out PCG Auxiliary members serve as only volunteers, supporting in causes such as coastal clean-up.

This is the first time that a First Lady joined the PCG’s Auxiliary.

Mrs. Marcos joined the 20,000-strong men and women PCG Auxiliary. This is the PCG unit that is the unarmed, voluntary non-government organization that assists the PCG in promoting safety of life and property at sea, protection of the marine environment and engage in other humanitarian missions.

The First Lady was quoted saying she chose to join the auxiliary unit of the PCG to “inspire” them to fulfill their duties in the service of the Filipino nation. A day after being commissioned at the PCG, Mrs. Marcos rendered her first salute to PBBM as Commander-in-chief. In full uniform and regalia as PCG Vice Admiral, Mrs. Marcos posted a photo at Malacañang Palace laughing and hugging each other after her salute to PBBM. She captioned the photos with “an officer and a gentleman,” adding the Philippine flag and heart emojis.

Unlike Mrs. Marcos, 75-year-old Carpio has one-star rank as honorary commodore of the PCG Auxiliary. He first joined the PCG (as a captain) 15 years ago. After he retired from the SC in 2019, Carpio has been actively advocating for support and defense of our country’s sovereign claims on the WPS before the bars of public opinion here and abroad. Carpio jokingly dismissed a scenario he might be asked to join the PCG patrol ships at the WPS. “Sabi nga ni Commodore Tarriela sa clean-up lang kami,” Carpio quipped and guffawed.

While it may be just honorific rank as Vice Admiral of the PCG, the First Lady could perhaps be the voice of reason to help resolve the SCS dispute. Mrs. Marcos is a lawyer by profession and a part-time law professor while doing her pet projects as the First Lady of the land. She could be the President’s designated emissary to talk with Beijing. Who knows it might work?