The Philippine Coast Guard under the incoming Pres. Rody Duterte is set to receive three (3) vessels from Japan and four (4) vessels from France this year as confirmed by Coast Guard spokesperson Commander Armand Balilo. The vessels from Japan and France will be receive by the country’s presumptive President Rody Duterte.
According to the Philippine Coast Guard, he Philippine government has entered contracts for ten (10) 44-meter Multi-Role Response Vessels (MRRV) from the government of Japan; and one (1) 82-meter Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) and four (4) 24-meter Fast Control Boats (FPB) from the government of France.
The larger and modern French vessel will be based on shipbuilder OCEA’s OPV270. According to the national government under Pres. Aquino the order from France is through Philippine Ports and Coast Guard Capability Development Project, while acquisition from Japan is known as Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project.
The Philippine Coast Guard also announced through their official social media account that they will be conducting mass hiring to fill up positions including vessel crew for arriving assets which is part of the country’s modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Coast Guard is looking to hire 900 uniformed personnel in 2016. The Coast Guard only has around 8,800 personnel which is short to effectively guard the country’s 36,289 kilometers of coastline. The ideal is there should be one guard per kilometer of coastline.