December 12, 2024 | 5:30pm
MANILA, Philippines — A bill seeking to modernize the Philippine Coast Guard amid the country’s growing maritime challenges in the West Philippine Sea has reached the Senate plenary.
Senate President Chiz Escudero sponsored Senate Bill 2903 during Wednesday’s (December 11) plenary session. He stressed the urgency of upgrading the Coast Guard’s capabilities.
“The PCG has been around for the longest time. However, it has never been the subject of any modernization attempt, especially given the current issues we face in the WPS,” the Senate president said in his remarks delivered in plenary.
The modernization program outlined in the bill focuses on improving the PCG’s operational capabilities and “stabilizing” the ranks of its personnel. It also seeks to legislate provisions that guarantee longevity pay, including survivorship, for PCG personnel.
A separate but related Senate bill, also sponsored by Escudero, seeks to provide a three-year fixed term to the PCG commandant, similar to the chief of staff position of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“We carved out this particular portion of the modernization bill in order to give it a fighting chance ahead and within the time prescribed prior to the retirement of the current commandant of the PCG,” Escudero said.
Sen. Joel Villanueva moved to suspend consideration of the bill “while our colleagues further study the measure,” making it the last major agenda of Wednesday’s session. It is now pending second reading.
The PCG called the legislative initiative “essential in enhancing the capacity of the PCG, particularly in addressing the pressing challenges in the West Philippine Sea” in a statement issued Thursday, December 12.
“As the Philippines continues to navigate complex geopolitical waters in the WPS, the reorganization of the PCG is positioned as a critical step toward strengthening national maritime security,” the PCG said.
An analysis by the United States-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) that charted the PCG’s budget for over two decades found that the PCG has increasingly become “awash with funds” under the 19th Congress.
The PCG’s 2024 budget of P29.4 billion is at least four times higher than the funds it received in 2018.
However, despite this, the PCG “continues to trail neighboring coast guards in many respects, even as it faces the most acute threat from [Chinese Coast Guard] coercion,” according to the CSIS.
“Whereas Vietnamese and Chinese maritime agencies have a nearly constant presence throughout the South China Sea, the PCG struggles to maintain an adequate number of patrols,” it said.
In September, the PCG pulled out one of its newest and most modern vessels, the BRP Teresa Magbanua, from its five-month deployment at Escoda Shoal.
BRP Teresa Magbanua — also the PCG’s flagship vessel — had been repeatedly rammed by Chinese vessels near the disputed shoal. — with reports by Jean Mangaluz
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