A BILL proposing to modernize the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has been filed at the House of Representatives, to boost its capability to counter intrusions by foreign vessels.
House Bill No. 7965 calls for upgraded technology and more bases of operation for the PCG.
“Enforcement of our maritime laws can be more effective with the gradual addition of PCG field offices, bases, and facilities at a pace that is prudent and realistically affordable through the national budget and official development assistance,” Bohol Representative Kristine Alexie B. Tutor, the bill’s author, said in a statement Wednesday.
The measure authorizes the procurement of microsatellites, smart buoys and drones for deployment to strategic locations and bases in the Kalayaan and Tawi-Tawi Islands.
Other locations proposed for PCG facilities were the Batanes group, Basilan, Dinagat, Polillo, Catanduanes, Samar, Leyte, Bohol, Guimaras, Mindoro, Panay, Siquijor, Marinduque, Romblon, Masbate, and Camiguin.
The bill also would require the Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Information and Communication Technology, Department of National Defense, and the Philippine Space Agency, “to cause the creation, deployment, management, and operation of maritime microsatellites for specific multiple-purpose mission tasking consistent with the missions, roles, powers, and functions of the PCG.”
“These steps would enable the PCG to expand and deepen its coverage at strategic locations nationwide,” Ms. Tutor said. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
