Philippine Coast Guard, patuloy sa paghahanda para sa darating na #SemanaSanta2024;
Zero maritime casualties ngayong #SemanaSanta2024, target ng PCG
Zero maritime casualties ngayong #SemanaSanta2024, target ng PCG
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Philippine Coast Guard's preparations for the upcoming Holy Week]
00:04 [and we are joined by Rear Admiral Armand Balilo, the Philippine Coast Guard's spokesperson.]
00:10 [Rear Admiral, good afternoon.]
00:12 [Kueng, Ase Kueng, good afternoon and good afternoon to all of your followers.]
00:18 [Sir, how are your preparations for the upcoming Holy Week this year?]
00:23 [Well, based on the directive of Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gaban,]
00:28 [all forces of the Philippine Coast Guard are on item alert]
00:32 [from Friday to next Sunday until the end of the Holy Week.]
00:40 [Rear Admiral Balilo, this is Chi,]
00:43 [the Philippine Coast Guard's target is zero maritime casualties this Holy Week.]
00:49 [What security and safety measures have you prepared to achieve this goal, sir?]
00:57 [Ma'am, the Philippine Coast Guard's concern this Holy Week is the safety and security of all our countrymen]
01:06 [who will return to their provinces for the so-called vacation.]
01:10 [We have spread out our forces and added more forces for the safety measures implemented by the Philippine Coast Guard.]
01:18 [We are encouraging our countrymen that there will be no overloading]
01:23 [and all our countrymen are in the right place.]
01:27 [We will not neglect the things that are in our province]
01:33 [and there may be a fire or a danger to the ship or the sea]
01:39 [that may be affected by the inspections we will do in the provinces.]
01:43 [We have our Philippine Force Authority, the Philippine National Police and the Navy.]
01:49 [We have also joined forces with the Sea Marshals]
01:55 [to protect our countrymen while they are traveling.]
02:01 [We also have our Seaborn Patrol and our Rescue Units.]
02:05 [If the time comes, if there is a need for rescue in the middle of the sea, we are ready.]
02:13 Sir, just a follow-up. Your operating units will be put under heightened alert.
02:19 When will this start and end?
02:22 This will be on Friday because we think our countrymen will leave
02:31 and will go to the provinces using sea vehicles.
02:35 This will end next week until the end of this week.
02:41 Sir, when it comes to major tourist destinations,
02:44 because people are going on vacation,
02:46 what assistance do you expect the PCG will give this Christmas?
02:51 We have a directive to our units, especially to the beach resorts
02:57 where our countrymen will go this Christmas.
03:01 Make sure that the people who will be swimming will be safe and there will be no accidents.
03:07 We will spread the nets to help or augment the lifeguards of the resorts
03:14 and they will go around the islands for island hopping so we can follow them and there will be no accidents.
03:23 Sir, in total, how many will be deployed this Holy Week
03:28 and how are you preparing for the increase of people in the port or seaports?
03:35 Well, in total, in the whole Philippines,
03:39 we will deploy 60 percent of our forces to guard the ports and seaports.
03:47 We will deploy our people as augmentation to the security of the ports,
03:55 together with the Philippine Ports Authority and the Philippine National Police.
03:59 They will also have health desks so that if there are questions
04:06 and if there are any emergencies that need to be responded to, we will be there immediately.
04:14 Rear Admiral, in other talks, we also asked for an update on the proposed increase in funding
04:21 in the modernization plan for the assets of the Philippine Coast Guard.
04:26 Where are we in this discussion?
04:29 We are on target in our modernization.
04:33 The Congress has already given the increase of our budget
04:37 and we are planning to acquire additional ships, air assets, bases, radar system,
04:48 and the equipment that we need for our functions.
04:54 Sir, we have a question from our media partner, Gene Mangalus of Inquirer.net.
04:59 What is the reaction of the PCG to the Chinese auxiliary member in the PCG?
05:04 What is the detail of this?
05:06 And is this in accordance with the PCG's policy or the law in our country?
05:14 Well, just like what Admiral Gabando said in his statement in Congress yesterday,
05:21 there are 36 Chinese that were removed from the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary.
05:26 These are Chinese nationals that became a member of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary,
05:31 the volunteer group of the Philippine Coast Guard.
05:34 Since 2015, there have been Chinese nationals accepted.
05:39 They are members of the executive squadron of the Philippine Coast Guard
05:45 whose main function is to assist the Philippine Coast Guard's humanitarian assistance.
05:52 But because of the communication of the National Security Council,
05:59 the Philippine Coast Guard decided to remove them because of the West Philippine Sea.
06:07 But the assurance that the Philippine Coast Guard is giving,
06:10 these Chinese businessmen who were recruited by the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary
06:15 have no participation in the Philippine Coast Guard's operation
06:19 and they have no direct access to the sensitive areas of the Philippine Coast Guard.
06:24 Their only job is to assist the Philippine Coast Guard's humanitarian assistance and they are the ones who are giving donations.
06:33 But if it's the function of the Philippine Coast Guard, we are restricted and we cannot allow other people
06:43 to get information from the PCG operation.
06:47 Sir, are these Coast Guard members Chinese or Chinese who have been here in the Philippines for a long time?
06:54 They are Chinese. They are all Chinese.
06:57 Some of them have a Filipino husband and these are the recommended Filipino Chinese businessmen
07:03 who are members of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary.
07:06 Because of the fear that they might get information and the Philippine Coast Guard's operation will be affected,
07:15 they were removed from the visa of the Directorate of Admiral Gaban back in December.
07:22 Sir why did we do this only last December? What is the recruitment process for joining the PCG Auxiliary?
07:30 We did not have any problems back then because these are ordinary Chinese businessmen.
07:39 We are very careful in our operations and in our intelligence that we need to monitor.
07:49 We are not afraid of being seen.
07:52 But because of the wisdom of the National Security Council when it comes to this matter,
07:59 we followed and we want to be careful and we will not be seen here.
08:06 Sir I have a follow-up question.
08:08 I was just thinking that the hacking on your website, did we have involvement in recruiting these before?
08:21 No sir. These are ordinary businessmen.
08:26 When these applied in 2015, there were no issues in the West Philippines yet.
08:32 That's why we took clearance like immigration clearance, police clearance, NBI clearance.
08:39 We saw how they functioned.
08:42 If we saw any other sector, we will investigate it.
08:46 That's why Admiral Gaban decided to remove them from the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary.
08:55 Sir I have a follow-up question to our media partner, Jean Mangaluz.
08:59 How do you tackle the concerns that these Chinese nationals are spies?
09:05 We don't have a strong basis to accuse them of being Chinese spies.
09:13 What I can tell you is that we also had a vetting when they applied and they have been helping the Philippine Coast Guard for a long time.
09:23 In the aspect of humanitarian assistance and donation, they have no participation in the activities of the Philippine Coast Guard,
09:32 especially in sensitive movements.
09:35 They are not able to enter areas where we have operations and we have things to take care of.
09:44 There is nothing to be worried about.
09:46 They are ordinary businessmen. If there is a report that they are spies,
09:53 the National Security Council will take care of it so they can follow up and deal with it.
10:01 Sir please send a message to our countrymen who are traveling and will be on vacation this upcoming Holy Week.
10:08 Well, the responsibility of traveling and being careful in your vacation this upcoming Holy Week is not only the responsibility of the Philippine Coast Guard.
10:20 We should help them with shipping companies and passengers.
10:26 Passengers, if you see something wrong and there are shortcomings, we encourage you to inform the Philippine Coast Guard.
10:35 We promise that we will take action immediately and we will not neglect it.
10:40 Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Oraz, Rear Admiral Arman Balilo, the spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard.
10:47 Thank you, Assistant Secretary.