Coast Guard beefs up Holy Week preparations (4:22 p.m.)

MANILA -- The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is not leaving up to chance the safety of sea travelers in the coming Holy Week.

PCG Commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said that this early, passenger assistance centers will be in place to anticipate the volume of passengers who will flock sea ports nationwide from March 30 to April 14.

“The centers will particularly help ensure the orderly, safe and secure conduct of embarkation of passengers and loading of cargo so as to give the PCG Boarding Teams ample time for boarding and inspection of vessels prior to departure,” he said in a statement.

To increase visibility, additional Coast Guard personnel will be deployed to the following ports: Manila, Batangas, Cebu, Zamboanga, Calapan/Roxas (Oriental Mindoro), Abra de Ilog (Occidental Mindoro), Odiongan/Romblon (Romblon), Dalahican (Lucena), Balanacan/Kawit/Sta. Cruz (Marinduque), Atimonan/Puerto Real (Quezon), Matnog (Sorsogon), Allen (Samar), Lipata (Surigao) Balingoan (Misamis Orriental), and Camiguin. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)