Philippine Coast Guard to conduct sea training with US, Japanese peers

By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter

THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is planning to conduct maritime exercises with its US and Japanese counterparts later this year, its chief said on Wednesday.

The Philippines may hold a trilateral maritime exercise with the US Coast Guard and Japan Coast Guard in the “mid or later part of this year,” PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil L. Gavan told BusinessWorld.

“We also have a trilateral maritime security exercise with Japan and the US… we will be doing one this year,” he said on the sidelines of a House of Representatives transportation committee hearing. He did not provide any more details, saying the plan is still a “work in progress.”

The PCG first held its joint exercises with the US and Japan in June 2023 in the waters off Bataan province near the South China Sea. They conducted search and rescue exercises, maneuvering drills and maritime law enforcement training that year.

The Philippines and China have repeatedly clashed in the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, due to overlapping claims over disputed maritime features.

Manila has been at the forefront of efforts to contest Beijing’s expansive sea claim, organizing joint sails into the South China Sea with western countries and regional allies like Japan and Australia.

China claims more than 80% of the South China Sea based on a 1940s map, which a United Nations-backed arbitration court voided in 2016 for being illegal.

“The security of the West Philippine Sea is not our sole concern,” Mr. Gavan told the House hearing, referring to areas of the South China Sea within the country’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone. “It affects the whole world.”

“While it is true that the Philippine Coast Guard is there to protect the territorial integrity of this country, [in a] globalized world… we have to engage our foreign partners, our allies and those who have a stake in global trade to also do their part,” he added.

The South China Sea is a key conduit for $3 trillion of annual ship-borne trade.

Meanwhile, Mr. Gavan said the coast guard is still “doing the paperwork” for its official development assistance-funded acquisition of 40 35-meter fast patrol craft from France worth $439 million, but is expecting deliveries to start next year.

The PCG also expects the delivery of five 97-meter ships from Japan in 2027, financed through a $413-million loan from Tokyo, he said. “The earliest could be 2027, but it’s still a work in progress.”

“We are sincerely hoping to position the coast guard to be the… most capable coast guard, at least in Southeast Asia, in the next five years,” Mr. Gavan said.

Also on Wednesday, the House transportation committee approved a measure that seeks to strengthen the PCG by through policy and organizational reforms to make it more responsive amid tensions in the South China Sea.

The body approved House Bill No. 11433 a month after President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed into law a proposal seeking to fix the term of the coast guard commandant to three years, which was a watered-down version of the measure originally proposed by the House.

“I filed this bill with the intention of reviving House Bill No. 10841, the one earlier adopted with amendments by the Senate, enabling the passage of Republic Act No. 12122,” Romblon Rep. Eleandro Jesus F. Madrona, a vice-chairman of the panel, told the hearing.

He said the bill seeks to improve the PCG’s capability to perform its maritime security and safety functions. “This can be done by establishing a well-defined organizational structure, as well as by providing them the needed resources to upgrade their capability in terms of manpower and equipment.”

Mr. Gavan said the measure would help the PCG become more responsive to its maritime responsibilities amid “evolving geopolitical challenges.”

The bill seeks to let the PCG receive loans and grants from local or foreign sources to boost modernization efforts.

It also seeks to establish a trust fund for its modernization program to come from fines and fees it collects from operations, but it would likely be scrapped once the bill hits the House floor due to opposition from the Budget department, Mr. Madrona said.

“Any funding for the PCG is included in the GAA (General Appropriations Act), so we recommend the same moving forward,” Budget Director Trisha M. Baraan said.

“While it is still in the bill as proposed, the modernization provision will probably be deleted,” Mr. Madrona said, adding that a separate bill would be filed for the proposed PCG trust fund in the next Congress.