Tag: Philippine Coast Guard

Piracy: Orchestrating the Response The Philippine Coast Guard and MARINA-7 has given emphasis on the issue of piracy here and abroad as they launched with an early morning motorcade, the National Maritime Week which runs from Sept. 26 to October 1 carrying the theme "Piracy: Orchestrating the Response".Philippine Coast Guard-Visayas commander Capt. Romeo Rivero said that even with no reported incident of piracy attacks, they still launched an anti-piracy campaign as part of their mandate to provide maritime security.The PCG has attributed the absence of pirate attacks in Central Visayas including Cebu to strengthen the vigilance of maritime agencies and favorable economic conditions.Rivero credited the strong vigilance against threats in the seas as part of their regular coordination which has always been done by the maritime stakeholders."Poverty is the major reason why some individuals resort to piracy attacks. This is the main reason why no piracy attacks have been recorded in the Visayas seas because generally, the economic condition of the people is good," Rivero said during the opening of the National Maritime Week yesterday morning.According to Rivero, the piracy attacks are not really a grave problem in the country but it is a real threat in some countries abroad, ...

221 rescued The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported on Sunday that 221 passengers and crew were rescued when their interisland ferry ran aground as it neared port in Cebu City in the Visayas.Among those rescued were several ranking government officials as well as Korean and Japanese tourists who were on board the fast craft "Weesam Express 8" on their way from the island province of Bohol to Cebu, said Commander Rolando Punzalan, the chief of the PCG station in Cebu.Punzalan said the ferry left Tagbilaran City in Bohol at 4:30pm on Saturday and was to arrive in Cebu City two hours later at 6:30pm.But 30 minutes before its expected arrival, Punzalan said the PCG received a distress signal from the captain who reported the ferry ran aground near Cebu's neighboring city of Talisay.Among the rescued passengers were Dr. Susana Madarieta, the regional head of the Department of Health; Efren Carreon, the regional chief of the National Economic and Development Authority; and Edward Villarta, the regional head of the National Bureau of Investigation.One of the passengers, who requested anonymity, complained the PCG craft and other vessels arrived late at the scene, resulting in a long delay in the rescue efforts that ...