Attack on PCG ship may trigger MDT...

PAGE A2 with respect to the numbers. I think you’re going to see an increase with respect to the joint mix of capabilities that we bring together this time in Balikatan and I think it would provide a very powerful optic of assurance to allies and partners across the region that we’re coming together with the Filipinos and the Australians in a very powerful pronounced way,” Gilday said.

PCG expanding presence

After confirming through aerial reconnaissance the presence of 30 Chinese militia vessels in Ayungin and Sabina shoals, the PCG said it would expand its presence in the West Philippine including by launching more air patrols.

“We are intensifying our presence there. This is a followup to our maritime patrol the other day – the MDA flight that we launched to confirm the presence of the Chinese Coast Guard,” PCG adviser for maritime security Commodore Jay Tarriela said.

He said the Chinese obviously do not respect Philippine sovereignty as Beijing continues to ignore the diplomatic protests filed by Manila over incidents of incursions and harassment by Chinese coast guards and militia vessels.

At a public forum, Tarriela said PCG’s recent air patrol or maritime domain awareness (MDA) flight over areas within the Philippine exclusive economic zone is part of efforts to intensify its presence in the West Philippine Sea.

On Tuesday, February 21, an MDA flight spotted at least 26 Chinese maritime militia vessels anchored on Sabina Shoal and four others on Ayungin Shoal, along with the CCG vessel 5304. The MDA was conducted a few weeks after an incident wherein the Chinese coast guard beamed a military-grade laser light on BRP Malapascua, which was assisting in the delivery of provisions to troops stationed on the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal last Feb. 6. The Department of Foreign Affairs protested the Chinese action, which briefly blinded some Malapascua crew members.

“That’s why the Philippine Coast Guard always documents the Chinese presence and makes sure we have photos to follow up on the diplomatic protest that we did last week,” Tarriela said. He said that by regularly recording and documenting the Chinese incursions and harassment, the PCG hopes to heighten public awareness as well as attract more international attention.

“Another way that we are doing in ensuring our assertiveness in the WPS is to document their aggressive actions and their presence not just for the filing of diplomatic protests, but also to expose it to the Filipino people so that they are aware of what is happening in the WPS,” he told The STAR He also said the PCG is also eyeing changes in its “rules on the use of force” or RUF so it could deal more appropriately with Chinese provocations. He stressed the use of laser is out of the question for the PCG.

“It’s not PCG’s plan to use laser technology as part of our weaponry. What we’re saying is for us to revise our rules on the use of force because it’s not indicated in the rules how the PCG would respond to this kind of threat,” he explained. He added they are contemplating the use of protective equipment or devices to shield PCG crew from such attack.

Three PCG officers, meanwhile, have been sent to Australia to participate in the inaugural Civil Maritime Security Program organized by the Australian Border Force.

Philippine Ambassador Ma. Hellen dela Vega welcomed Cmdr. Jonah Arugay, Lt. Cmdr. Valerie Lagua and Lt. Maritoni Saliendra at the embassy.

The three PCG Officers will be joining nine other participants from Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam in the six-week program which will include practical exercises on operational command, boarding, search and seizures as well as training on law of the sea and international maritime law.

The embassy said the Philippines and Australia, as maritime nations in the Pacific, share a long history of partnership in defense and security and have continued to enhance maritime cooperation over the years through mutual exchange, education and training.

“Both countries are committed to uphold the rules-based order anchored on international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, for regional peace, security and stability,” the has also highlighted how the Philippines already withdrew from the Rome Statute, dissolving its status as a party to the ICC.

Threat

Youth group Anakbayan has slammed Sen. Ronald dela Rosa over insistence that the impending ICC investigation on the Duterte administration’s war on drugs is a threat to the country’s sovereignty.

“The ICC probe is not a threat to our sovereignty. It may just be a threat to Duterte, Bato dela Rosa and their cohorts who implemented the bloody war on drugs,” Anakbayan national chairperson Jeann Miranda said in Filipino.

The group issued the statement, following a heated discussion between Dela Rosa and five visiting lawmakers from the European Union last Wednesday, February 22.

Dela Rosa told reporters that he specifically berated Spanish lawmaker Miguel Urban Crespo, who he described as “very hot” on the issue of the war on drugs and even questioned why Sen. Jinggoy Estrada filed a resolution opposing the ICC investigation.

For its part, labor coalition Nagkaisa urged the Senate to reciprocate the concerns aired by EU parliamentarians on the bloody drug war during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

“We laud the EU parliamentarians taking up the concerns of those victims and their families. During the meeting, EU Parliament member Hannah Neumann reiterated the EU Delegation’s concerns over the reported thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings in the war on drugs,” Nagkaisa chair Sonny Matula said.

Matula added that the Senate and other lawmakers should support the establishment of a presidential body to investigate the failed drug war and other human rights abuses. 

Individual traditional jeepneys...

PAGE A2

'High costs' of modernization prohibitive to operators

Mody Floranda, national president of transport group PISTON, earlier explained that many jeepney operators continue to avoid entering into the PUV Modernization Program because of the high costs to change their vehicles, besides the posibility of losing their livelihood once they enter the franchise consolidation.

Floranda said that a reasonable way for the Department of Transportation and LTFRB to handle said concerns is to fully suspend the implementation of the DOTr Department Order 2017-011, which stipulates the rules and requirements of the PUVMP, and all its supplementing LTFRB memoranda while conducting a thorough review of the program.

"In the process of reviewing the whole program of modernization, the government must ensure that all jeepney drivers and small operators are consulted," he said in Filipino.

"Thousands of jobs are at stake, so it's important that we work together with the state in identifying how a proper transition towards modernization could be justly undertaken."

PISTON reiterated that they do not oppose modernizing traditional jeeps as long as the modernization program ensures and prioritizes a "fair and just transition for transport workers and all affected vulnerable sectors." (Jaime Relativo/Philstar.com)