Vietnam sets up hotline with PCG

MANILA, Philippines - Vietnam Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh gave the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday a hotline for a speedy maritime search and rescue operation for the two countries.

Coast Guard Commandant Rear Adm. Rodolfo Isorena and Thanh activated the hotline to enable the PCG to communicate directly with Vietnam’s National Marine Police.

Isorena took Thanh on a one-hour tour around their Action Center, the helicopter base, and a rescue vessel at the Coast Guard headquarters in Manila, the first time for a high-ranking Vietnamese official.

Over the years, Vietnamese fishermen have been stranded in the Philippines and Filipino fishermen lost at sea would be assisted by the Vietnamese.

PCG spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said: “This would pave the way for a better communication facility. There had been cases wherein fishermen got caught in bad weather and drifted to a nearby country such as Vietnam. This could also be used to give us feedback about the missing fishermen.”

In the event Vietnamese fishermen intrude into Philippine waters, the Coast Guard would be able to immediately inform Vietnam’s National Marine Police.

Balilo said Thanh’s visit might be connected to the plans of Vietnam to turn its National Marine Police into a coast guard.

“The Philippine Coast Guard is one of the oldest coast guards in the world,” he said. “We would be celebrating our 112th anniversary this October.”

It was only this year when China established a coast guard.

Other countries that recently set up coast guards were Malaysia and South Korea.

– With Jaime Laude