RP, Japan fight terror at sea

A merchant ship being attacked by pirates off Manila Bay sends out a distress call to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

Within minutes, a PCG search and rescue (SAR) vessel BRP San Juan races to the site of the attack.

With precision and expertise, members of the PCG Special Operations Group (SOG) rescue the vessel and arrest the attackers, who also yielded illegal drugs.

The scenario was part of the joint maritime law enforcement (MARLEN) exercise jointly conducted yesterday off Manila Bay by coast guard units from the Philippines and Japan. The rescue operation involved the BRP San Juan and Japan Coast Guard (JCG) patrol vessel Mizuho.

The exercise was the culmination of the month-long seminar sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under its five-year human resource development project, according to PCG spokesman LCdr. Joseph Coyme.

Also participating in yesterday’s anti-terrorism exercise were delegates from India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and representatives from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police’s Maritime Group.

This is the third time the Philippines, in partnership with Japan, has hosted an anti-terrorism exercise at sea, designed to enhance operational skills, according to Commodore Wilfredo Tamayo, chief of the PCG’s Operating Forces.

"This is an enhanced cooperation between our country and Japan. We benefit from Japanese resources, while they learn to improve their fight against terrorism," Tamayo said, adding that Japan has now replicated the PCG’s scheme on the deployment of sea marshals on board vessels as first line of defense against terrorists.

Coyme said the Philippines will benefit from these exercises in terms of enhancing the skills and techniques of law enforcers at sea as the country is a maritime nation with a long history of pirate attacks on merchant vessels.