It is surprising to learn that an archipelagic nation with one of the most extensive coastlines in the world has a coast guard with only three patrol boats capable of long deployment, which is what Philippine Coast Guard spokesman for West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriela revealed in a recent interview with CNN Philippines.
“If you can imagine how big the WPS is – and we only have three offshore patrol vessels and not deployed all at the same time because they have to do rotational deployment – we have some spaces in WPS that we fail to patrol constantly. So we are proposing with the coast guard modernization for the acquisition of more patrol vessels,” he said.
Tarriela did not name the three, but some of the more prominent PCG vessels are the Gabriela Silang, Tubbataha, and Malapascua.
Aside from needing at least 20 or more vessels to cover areas that need patrolling, especially in the WPS where cases of Chinese incursion and harassment have been rife, the PCG is also pushing for the establishment of response bases in Palawan, Subic, Mindoro, and Northern Philippines.
“We believe the PCG needs to intensify its capability so we can be able to patrol our EEZ (exclusive economic zone) and make sure no foreign intruders would use our resources,” he added.
He also said the PCG and the United States Coast Guard are currently in talks for joint patrols in the WPS.
The Chinese side already has hundreds of vessels in the disputed area, many probably armed with weapons deadlier than water cannons and “military grade” lasers, rotating endlessly with even more from their mainland, using that fleet to assert their ridiculous claim over what is essentially Philippine territory.
If the Philippines is going to stand up for itself, it will need more than three coast guard boats capable of long deployment missions. This will be more important that the rhetoric and diplomatic protests that have so far failed in our attempts to deal with the neighborhood bully.*
