The Philippine Coast Guard said Thursday it would take delivery of 49 new ships by 2028, 40 of which will be financed by a P25.8 billion French loan and five from Japan, as it boosts patrols in the South China Sea steps up amid rising tensions. with China.
The rest will be built locally, PCG commander Adm. Ronnie Gil L. Gavan told a security forum Thursday.
This will be the biggest purchase in the modernization of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Commander he said during a news briefing at the Presidential Palace.
The purchase, which was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority Board, would allow them to deploy two patrol boats in every Philippine district “fast enough to reach the edges of our exclusive economic zone,” he added.
The Coast Guard also wants to expand its 30,000-strong manpower.
“This is a game changer for us as it will enable the Coast Guard to maintain its position as the youngest fleet in Southeast Asia,” Mr Gavan said. “Five years from now, we anticipate we will be the most respected and most capable Coast Guard.”
In a statement, the NEDA board said the purchase, which will be financed by official development assistance from the French government, includes 40 fast patrol vessels, 20 of which will be built locally.
“These patrol vessels will enhance the country’s response capabilities in search and rescue operations, environmental protection, maritime law enforcement and disaster response,” it added.
The new boats will also “help counter smuggling and illegal activities while ensuring the maintenance of maritime sovereignty in critical marine areas.”
Mr. Gavan said the Philippine Coast Guard had also been given the go-ahead to purchase five 97-meter ships from Japan. “After delivery we will have about eight large ships.”
The Coast Guard will start receiving the ships in the period 2027 to 2028.
These purchases reflect the success of the PCG’s assertive transparency campaign, which has generated domestic and international support, said Raymond M. Powell, a fellow at the US-based Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation.
“The decision of international partners like France and Japan to help the Philippines was motivated by the compelling visual evidence their governments saw after Manila showed it to the world,” he said in an X message.
The transparency campaign, launched last year after China’s coast guard used a military-grade laser to drive away a PCG ship, aims to expose Chinese ships’ aggression at sea.
China claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety, including the waters within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
“A decision by a democratically elected government to spend its national resources on improving its external security requires the support of its people, and the Filipino people have been energized to support their government because it has shown them the images of the outrage happening within their government. waters,” Mr. Powell said.
Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., who came to power in 2022, has pursued closer defense ties with the US and other powers in the Indo-Pacific region.
The PCG was under the Department of National Defense before being transferred to the Office of the President on March 30, 1998 through an order of the late President Fidel V. Ramos.
Mr. Ramos later transferred the PCG to the Department of Transportation and Communications, which was split into two separate agencies in 2016 through a
law signed by the late President Benigno SC Aquino III.
The PCG has since fallen under the Transport Department.
In his message during the South China Sea Dialogue, Mr. Marcos said his administration was pursuing “broad public diplomacy and awareness efforts” amid foreign intrusions in Philippine waters, while opposing “aggressive actions” in the South China Sea denounced.
“We try to empower our citizens to become ambassadors for our cause.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza