JAPAN Marine United Corp. (JMU) has won the contract to build ten 40-meter multi-role vessels for the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), due for delivery by the third quarter of 2018, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) said on Sunday.
This undated handout photo taken by the Philippine Navy and released April 11, 2012, by the Department of Foreign Affairs shows Chinese surveillance ships off Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal. AFP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines – Not a single Philippine Coast Guard vessel has been deployed to Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) since Coast Guard ships and their Chinese counterparts faced off in that part of the West Philippine Sea for two weeks in mid-2012. The Inquirer learned this Monday from Cmdr. Armand Balilo, chief of the Coast Guard’s public affairs office, who said, however that the search-and-rescue vessel BRP Corregidor (001) and the buoy tender BRP San Juan (AE-391) were “on standby” at the PCG headquarters in Manila and could be sent to the area “if ordered by the higher-ups.” By higher-ups Balilo was referring to “Malacañang through the DOTC,” not the Western Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which has been tasked by the government to oversee security in the West Philippine Sea. The Coast Guard is now under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transport and Communication. It used to be part of the Philippine Navy. The 540-ton Corregidor is 56 meters long, has a cruising speed of 26 knots and a cruising range of more than 1,000 nautical miles. Built by the Australian shipbuilding firm Tenix, the multirole vessel was commissioned by the PCG in June 2002. It was one of several PCG vessels that ferried relief goods to Eastern Visayas provinces ravaged by Supertyphoon Yolanda in Read More …
Coast Guard personnel should be deployed to the disputed Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal if the government wants to assert Philippine presence in the area being claimed by China as its own, a lawmaker said Wednesday. ACT-Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said the Coast Guard’s presence at the shoal might deter Chinese authorities from harassing Filipino fishermen in the disputed waters. “The mere presence of government forces, even civilian forces there, will change the [situation] and can make the Chinese forces think twice before doing what they did,” Tinio said in a press briefing. “Siyempre dahil mag-isa lang, yung mga mangingisda natin doon, mas madaling nagawa yung pag-bomba sa kanila ng water cannon. Pero kung may puwersa ng gobyerno natin doon, baka maiba yung situwasyon,” he added. Armed Forces chief Gen. Emmanuel Bautista revealed on Monday that a Chinese coast guard vessel drove away two Filipino fishing vessels from the area last January 27 by firing water cannons at them. President Benigno Aquino III has demanded an explanation from China regarding the incident and directed the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to file a “diplomatic message.” The Chinese Embassy in Manila, however, rejected the Philippine protest and declared it has “indisputable sovereignty” over the waters where the incident occurred. The Philippine government has declared that the shoal, which is facing the South China Sea, is within the country’s exclusive economic zone as mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – an agreement signed by 163 nations, including Read More …
By Tina G. SantosPhilippine Daily Inquirer 8:21 pm | Thursday, October 10th, 2013 INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — The controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program has been paying for Philippine Coast Guard patrols at Bajo de Masinloc off Zambales province, as well as in other disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said Thursday. “We looked through our records and the discussion on the DAP. There were funds released to the PCG in September 2012. Forty-four million [pesos] was released as additional MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenses) for the patrol operations at Bajo de Masinloc,” said Abaya, who was guest of honor at the PCG’s 112th anniversary celebration on Thursday. “Likewise, P105 million was allocated for the capability requirements of PCG operations in the West Philippine Sea,” he added. The Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Panatag Shoal and internationally as Scarborough Shoal, is at the center of a territorial dispute between the Philippines and China, with the Philippines bringing the dispute to a United Nations tribunal for arbitration. Concrete blocks that could be used to anchor construction posts had been sighted at the shoal recently. Last year, Chinese fishing vessels were discovered illegally poaching endemic Philippine marine species in its waters. A standoff ensued when Philippine authorities were prevented from apprehending the fishermen by Chinese navy ships that blocked them. China has also been claiming nearly all of the South China Sea, parts of which the Philippines calls the West Philippine Read More …
By Tetch Torres-TupasINQUIRER.net 2:28 pm | Monday, September 30th, 2013 AFP FILE PHOTO/PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD MANILA, Philippines—There is no evidence to hold the Philippine Coast Guard liable for the death of a Taiwanese fisherman, according to a joint affidavit it submitted to the Department of Justice stated. In a counter-affidavit, Commander Arnold Dela Cruz, Seaman 1st class Edrando Aguila, Sonny Masangcay and Henry Solomon said Philippine investigators from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) were not allowed to directly examine the vessel used by the fishermen during the incident nor were they allowed to autopsy the body of Hung Shih-Cheng who was allegedly shot by the PCG crewmen on board MCS 3001. The NBI in their complaint alleged that the bullet from the Springfield Caliber 7.62 mm M-14 rifle killed Cheng and that SN1 Endrando Aguila was the one who fired the said firearm. However, in their counter-affidavit, they pointed that Hiyasmin Abarrientos, one of the NBI’s ballisticians, admitted that she was not able to conduct a proper ballistics test and cross-matching on the M-14 as well as the slugs recovered from the boat. While in Taiwan to examine the vessel, she said they found a bullet from a caliber 7.62 mm rifle lodged at the pipe in the ceiling of the fish storage of the vessel but she was not allowed by the Taiwanese authorities to extract the bullet. “In other words, Abarrientos herself admits that the correct and scientific manner by which a ballistics test is conducted is Read More …
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Friday tapped the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in its hunt for businesswoman Janet Napoles, the central figure in a multibillion-peso pork barrel fund mess. NBI director Nonnatus Rojas wrote the Coast Guard for assistance, asking its units to inform the NBI if they spot Napoles or her brother Reynald, radio dzBB’s Carlo Mateo reported on Friday afternoon. Coast Guard spokesman Cmdr. Armand Balilo said instructions have been sent to Coast Guard stations to be on alert for Napoles and her brother, who are subjects of an arrest warrant issued by a Makati court. The arrest warrant for the Napoles siblings stemmed from the alleged illegal detention of who would turn out to be the whistleblower in the pork barrel scam. Earlier on Friday, the Philippine National Police joined in the hunt for Napoles after receiving a copy of the arrest warrant. An updated dzBB report said the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group deployed 19 tracker teams nationwide to go after the siblings. Napoles, the woman at the center of an alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam, has been ordered arrested for the serious illegal detention case involving whistleblower Benhur Luy. “Warrants of arrest (were) issued this afternoon by Br. 150, RTC-Makati vs Janet Lim Napoles and her brother Reynald ‘Jojo’ Lim in the serious illegal detention case,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told GMA News Online on Wednesday. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has charged Napoles and Lim for the alleged illegal Read More …
Red Cross personnel attend to survivors of ships’ collision. Survivors of the collision between two ships near the Cebu International Port in waters off the towns of Talisay and Cordova are attended to be personnel of the Philippine Red Cross. GMA News – Cebu The roll-on roll-off (RORO) ship that sank late Friday in Cebu had 841 people on board consisting of 723 passengers and 118 crew, the ship’s operator said Saturday morning. “The vessel has an authorized capacity of 1,010 passengers and crew,” the 2Go Group said in their statement emailed to GMA News and other news organizations. 2Go added that “while the number of survivors and casualties are still being determined by proper government authorities and shipping officials, rescue operations by the Philippine Navy, Coast Guard, PSACC and 2GO Group are ongoing. The shipping firm also said it “dispatched two of its fast crafts and passenger ship M/V St. John Paul which was in the immediate vicinity.” 2Go clarified that the MV St. Thomas Aquinas was not Manila bound. “The vessel came from Surigao and Nasipit Port bound for Cebu as a stopover port and then to Manila. It was estimated to arrive Cebu at 10 p.m.” Coast Guard officials earlier said the passenger ship was bound for Manila. — ELR, GMA News
Tropical Storm Soulik forecast track as of 8Jul2013. The Weather Central forecast track for Soulik as of 8am Monday shows that the tropical storm may enter the northeastern corner of the Philippine Area of Responsibility by Wednesday. GMA News As Typhoon Soulik continued to approach the Philippines Wednesday morning, officials of the Office of Civil Defense in seven regions, including Metro Manila, were instructed to adopt the needed precautions. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council had the OCD prepare for the possibility of heavy rain from Soulik, which would be codenamed “Huaning” once it enters the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR). OCD regional units placed under alert included Metro Manila, Cordillera, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Mimaropa, radio dzBB reported. PAGASA earlier said Soulik had intensified into a typhoon and continues to gain strength while approaching Northern Luzon, and may enhance the southwest monsoon. Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard placed its units in Northern Luzon on alert, radio dzBB’s Carlo Mateo reported. Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo said the units in Northern Luzon are to go around coastal areas and dissuade fishermen from going out to sea at this time. PAGASA said Soulik is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility as early as 10 a.m. Wednesday. — LBG, GMA News
By Jerry E. EsplanadaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 1:51 pm | Thursday, July 4th, 2013 This image received from Taiwan’s CNA and taken on September 25, 2012 shows a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat with a (neon) sign reading “Japanese territorial waters” as they monitor a flotilla of Taiwanese fishing boats which are headed to the Diaoyu / Senkaku islands disputed in the East China Sea, in territorial waters. AFP PHOTO/CNA MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Coast Guard expects to wrap up talks with the Japan International Cooperation Agency within the next few months for the acquisition of 10 brand-new patrol boats from Japan in late 2014 or early 2015. This was disclosed to the Inquirer on Thursday by Cmdr. Armand Balilo, PCG spokesperson, who said “the talks are ongoing.” Quoting Rear Adm. Rodolfo Isorena, the Coast Guard commandant, Balilo said, “Hopefully, the talks will be completed by the last quarter of the year so that actual construction of the vessels could be started.” “The two sides have agreed that all 10 patrol boats will be 40 meters (131 feet) long. But they are still talking about other specifications,” added Balilo, chief of the Coast Guard’s public affairs office. The JICA, he said, proposed that five of the vessels be built in the Philippines and the five others in Japan, but the Coast Guard “prefers that all 10 patrol boats be built in Japan.” Established in 1974, the JICA is the primary Japanese government agency engaged in technical cooperation and other forms of aid Read More …
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Re-elected Sen. Gregorio Honasan on Wednesday said the Aquino administration should be very careful in dealing with the alleged recommendation of the National Bureau of Investigation to charge members of the Coast Guard for the killing of a Taiwanese fishermen. Speaking to reporters during the 115th Independence Day celebration at the Pinaglabanan […]