Inatasan ni Pangulong Marcos Jr. ang hilippine Coast Guard na maging alerto at handang depensahan ang mga hanggaanan ng Pilipinas..
Sa panunumpa ng PCG personnel sa Malakanyang, sinabi ng Pangulo na kritikal ang papel na ginagampanan ng PCG dahil sila ang ‘frontliners’ sa anumang banta sa mga baybaying dagat ng Pilipinas.
“That is why we must guard ourselves, we must be ready and aware and industrious in the work that we do to make sure that we do not have any untoward incidents, that we do not have any mistakes, we do not have any misunderstandings that might cause the problem to escalate out of our control. I’m confident that all of our officers know this mission, that all our officers know how to fulfill that mission. And that is why we continue to support you in every way that we can so our citizens feel safe,” dagdag ng Pangulo.
Sabi pa nito, bagamat ang pangunahing tungkulin ng PCG ay magsagawa ng search and rescue operations, marami ang mabago na mula nang ilipat sa kanilang hanay ang ilang trabaho ng Philippine Navy.
“The reason for this is very simple. We do that so that we will not raise the tensions by putting in units and assets of the Philippine military into the area. At because sinasabi natin these are not military vessels, they are Coast Guard. But as many of the incidents have started to show over the past few years, that mission has become more, shall we say, intense. Now you are expected to defend not only the coastline, but to defend our nationals,” dagdag ng Pangulo.
Dahil mahalaga ang papel na ginagampanan ng PCG, sinabi ng Pangulo na kinakailangan na I-upgrade ang kapasidad, pasilidad at mga kagamitan nito.
“This is something that is critical to the safety of the citizens of the Philippines. It is critical in the defense of the Republic. It is critical to the defense of our territory,” pahayag ni Pangulong Marcos.
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