The Davao Coast Guard Station received two speed boats yesterday from the Japanese International Coordinating Agency (JICA) to secure further the city’s coastline.
In an interview yesterday, Lieutenant Commander George Maganto, the commander of Coast Guard Station Davao, said that the two rigid hull inflatable boats will help the capability, “when we will have to secure coastline in the city, especially after what had happened in the Lamitan, Basilan bombing last week.”
“The Philippine Coast Guard have received 10 speed boats coming from JICA and we are so lucky that we have received two here in the city,” he added.
“It is a big help during the conduct of patrol along the coastline of the city,” he said. “We can operate it fast so we can respond faster to the reported incident or any suspicious boats.”
The two speed boats will be deployed in the city in time for the Kadayawan festival. They also plan to conduct maritime patrols and test drive the boats before the celebration.
He said the national coast guard headquarters will also deploy additional vessels to secure the Davao gulf.
“Even before Kadayawan the station conducted 24/7 maritime patrol in our area and then for now it will continue because of the Kadayawan festival,” Maganto said.
He said they boarded all fishing boats and the coast guard personnel did not see any suspicious activity.
However, they are not letting their guards down.
Apart from the two additional speed boats, the Davao Coast Guard Station has seven aluminum boats, four rubber boats, and the Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas (BRP) Tubbataha ship . The station is also composed of 11 sub-stations.
