The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is seeking an additional funding from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to augment its personnel and modernize the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) resources.
“We’re helping them to increase the number of personnel. [There are] now more than 30,000 and we’re looking at hiring 4,000 more within the year,” Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said.
Bautista added that with the additional workforce, the PCG will be able to deploy one personnel per kilometer of the country’s coastline.
As far as equipment are concerned, Bautista said the PCG is already in the process of acquiring floating and aerial assets. Darwin G. Amojelar
“We just had approval to purchase five 97-meter MRRVs (multi-role response vessels). We already signed the loan agreement with JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) on this. It’s already in the procurement process,” he said.
“We need more helicopters and 35-meter fast patrol vessels to support the mission of the PCG not only in the West Philippine Sea, but also in other shores of the country,” he added. Darwin G. Amojelar
