PCG, Navforcen join Alalayan 2025

CEBU, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Naval Forces Central (Navforcen) participated in the recent Alalayan 2025, a flagship multi-agency maritime security exercise, held in Lapu-Lapu City on May 22 and 23.

Organized by the National Maritime Center (NMC) under the Office of the President,  the Alalayan 2025 exercise was co-funded by Expertise France and supported by the European Union through the Critical Maritime Routes Indo-Pacific (EU CRIMARIO II) project. This initiative underscored a strong commitment to enhance maritime security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.

The activity was particularly held at Dusit Thani Mactan, Cebu and the nearby waters approximately one nautical mile off Punta Enga o Point, Lapu-Lapu City.

The Coast Guard District Central Visayas (CGDCV), on the other hand, played a key role in regional execution by contributing vital personnel, maritime assets, and coordination in support of national directives.

The exercise featured a command post exercise (CPX), tabletop simulations, and a field training exercise (FTX)  testing a wide range of interagency capabilities, such as vessel tracking, interdiction, boarding, inspection, evidence handling, and emergency responses, including firefighting and search and rescue (SAR).

One of the highlights of the exercise was the simulated interdiction of a foreign-flagged Vessel of Interest (VOI), mv Nightmare Express, which was suspected of engaging in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and smuggling narcotics and other contraband.

Participating agencies included the Philippine Navy, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine National Police Maritime Group, Bureau of Customs, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Quarantine, and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

The inter-agency communication was facilitated through the Indo-Pacific Regional Information Sharing (IORIS) platform, a secure and neutral system for real-time maritime information exchange and coordination.