Coast Guard personnel undergo training in US-funded facility

MANILA, Philippines — Personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard have started training in maintenance courses at a facility in Balagtas, Bulacan.

US Coast Guard teams will conduct a series of trainings with their Philippine counterparts to prepare the PCG for leading maintenance courses in the future, the US Embassy said in a media release.

The first phase of the training was on outboard motor maintenance, which included a classroom, engine maintenance laboratory and barracks.

US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim visited the training center, which will be the core of the PCG's technical workforce development, on Thursday.

Kim and Commodore Joseph Badajos—PCG Surface Support Force commander—discussed the next phase of the training series.

For the next phase, the PCG will be allowed to simultaneously train up to 200 personnel as a much larger 16-classroom structure will be built.

The trainings will include a variety of technical specialties related to maritime engineering and seamanship.

The project, seen to enhance training capacity and maintain the PCG's operational readiness, is targeted to be completed by early 2021. — Patricia Lourdes Viray

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