THE procurement of more than two dozen Japanese ships and high-speed boats—topped by two large vessels—whose acquisition was sealed during President Duterte’s just-concluded official visit to Tokyo—would significantly shore up the security and border patrol capabilities of the Coast Guard (PCG), especially in running after drug smugglers, as well as Abu Sayyaf bandits and pirates who prey on foreign and local mariners in the South, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said.
Given the porous shoreline that span 36,289 kilometers throughout the archipelago, Dominguez said the Coast Guard 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 drug traffickers and also against Abu Sayyaf bandits and other lawless groups that prey on commercial vessels.
Indonesian suppliers recently stopped their deliveries of coal to power-generation plants in the Visayas and Mindanao, following the spate of the Abu Sayyaf’s kidnappings of Indonesians who navigate tugboats and coal-laden barges bound for Mindanao.
Preliminary talks on transforming a Davao City international port terminal into a transshipment hub for cargo 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 bandit- and pirate-infested Philippine waters.
“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 loan covering the purchase of two 94-meter largescale patrol ships.
Equivalent to P6.8 billion, this official development assistance (ODA) loan deal signed by Dominguez and Kitaoka was among the five agreements that were signed by Manila and Tokyo officials during Duterte’s visit to 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 Coast Guard under Phase 2 of its Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project (MSCIP).
The signing of the ¥16.5-billion loan was witnessed by Duterte and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The PCG is getting 10 40-meter patrol boats from Japan under Phase 1 of its MSCIP.
The first of these boats was delivered in 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 (about P280 million) grant for the procurement of high-speed boats and other equipment to boost the Philippines’s antiterrorism and security activities.
This additional package includes one 20-meter high-speed vessel and 14 units of 11-meter high- speed boats.
This means that inclusive of the two large patrol vessels that the Coast Guard is getting under the Jica deal signed by Dominguez and Kitaoka, the PCG is getting 27 boats under Phases 1 and 2 of the MSCIP and through an additional grant from Tokyo, to strengthen its antiterrorist, security and border patrol capabilities.
Duterte told reporters last Tuesday that dealing with the “deteriorating peace and order” on the waters between the Philippines and Malaysia will top the agenda of his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak during his Kuala Lumpur visit next week.
Such talks, he said, will include border control, border crossing, “and, maybe, joint military and police operations.”
“There is a need for us, the three countries—Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia—to talk about this seriously and to put a stop because it has, somehow, paralyzed the trade and commerce in that area,” he said.
Duterte had discussed security matters with Indonesian President Widodo during his recent visit to Indonesia. Rea Cu with PNA