THE Vietnam Coast Guard ship that will take part in the first joint drill with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is scheduled to arrive in Manila today, August 5.
The PCG said the 2,400-ton CSB 8002 has a crew of 80.
Col. Hoang Quoc Dat, vice commander of the Vietnam Guard Region 2, will lead the Vietnam delegation during the joint exercise.
PCG Commandant Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan will welcome the Vietnamese contingent, PCG spokesman Rear Adm. Armando Balilo said over the weekend.
Philippine Coast Guard officers and personnel will then tour the vessel, after which the Vietnamese delegation will make a courtesy call on Gavan at the PCG headquarters in Port Area, Manila.
A fellowship sports activity at the PCG gymnasium will follow.
The two coast guards will hold a planning conference for the search and rescue (SAR) and fire and explosion prevention training, which will be carried out in Manila Bay.
Balilo said the Vietnamese will also visit the National Coast Watch Center and Marine Science Investigation Force Laboratory and tour the PCG offshore patrol vessel, BRP Gabriela Silang.
The CSB 8002 will leave Manila on August 9 after a comprehensive debriefing and evaluation of the joint initiative, Balilo said.
The Philippines and Vietnam have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.
In a statement Sunday, Herman Tiu Laurel, president of the Manila-based think tank Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute (ACPSSI), said the flurry of military drills the Philippines has been having with the United States and Japan is part of the US containment policy against China and a vestige of “Cold War” geopolitics.
Laurel said the joint Philippine-Vietnam coast guard training is ironic for Manila since Hanoi is “the most aggressive though furtive competitor in the South China Sea claims.”
“Vietnam is the only claimant to the Spratly Islands group that has viciously seized by stealthy force a Philippine Marine-occupied island in the Spratlys,” he said.
He said Vietnam has occupied 25 islands and features in the Spratlys and “continues aggressively to shore up and expand existing bases and facilities.”
The Philippines occupies nine Spratly Islands and features, and China seven, Laurel said.
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