THE Duterte administration's procurement of over two dozen Japanese ships and high-speed boat will beef up the security and border patrol capabilities of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), especially in running after drug smugglers as well as Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) terrorists and pirates who prey on foreign and local mariners and seafarers in the South, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Thursday.
Given the porous shoreline that span 36,289 kilometers throughout the archipelago, Dominguez said the PCG is in dire need of first-rate boats to better guard Philippine shores and the high seas that the country shares with its neighbors against narco traffickers who peddle their drugs here or use the country as a transhipment point for their contraband and also against ASG terrorists and bandits who kidnap or rob sailors at gunpoint.
He noted that Indonesian suppliers have recently stopped their deliveries of coal to power-generation plants in the South following the spate of ASG-orchestrated kidnappings of Indonesians who navigate tugboats and coal-laden barges bound for Mindanao through the maritime borders that the Philippines shares with Indonesia and Malaysia.
Preliminary talks on transforming a Davao City international port terminal into a transshipment hub for cargos destined to Japan, China and other neighboring countries from a consolidation port in Indonesia have fallen through because Indonesian authorities were cool to the prospects for such shipments to pass through ASG-infested Philippine waters, he said.
“Our government’s acquisition of these patrol vessels and high-speed boats would give a big boost to our Coast Guard’s capabilities in securing our waters,” said Dominguez, who was the signatory, along with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) president Shinichi Kitaoka, to a 16.5-billion yen loan covering the purchase of two 94-meter large scale patrol ships for the PCG’s use.
The signing of the deal took place during the recent trip of the President in Japan.
Acquired at a concessional interest rate of between 0.01 percent and 0.10 percent and payable in 40 years (inclusive of a 10-year grace period), this package is part of Tokyo’s continuing assistance to the PCG under Phase 2 of its Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project (MSCIP), Dominguez said.
The PCG is getting 10 40-meter patrol vessels from Japan under Phase 1 of its MSCIP.
The first of these boats was delivered to the PCG last August, the second one is expected to be handed over to the Coast Guard this December, and the rest are due for delivery between next year and August 2018.
Tokyo has also announced the provision of additional vessels for the PCG through a 600-million yen (about P280 million) grant for the procurement of high-speed boats and other equipment to boost the Philippines’ anti-terrorism and security activities.
This additional package includes one 20-meter high-speed vessel and 14 units of 11-meter high speed boats. (SDR/Sunnex)