A Coast Guard support base facility in southwestern Mindanao will be established to intensify the country’s fight against maritime terrorism, the Philippine Coast Guard said Monday.
The establishment of the support base facility, according to Admiral George Ursabia Jr., Coast Guard commandant, is part of the memorandum of agreement between the Coast Guard and Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone (ZamboEcoZone) Chairman Raul Regondola.
Ursabia said the agreement recognized the need to establish a Coast Guard support base facility inside the zone “to strengthen measures against all acts of maritime terrorism in an effort to uphold peace and public safety in the region.”
Under the pact, the Coast Guard is provided with an 11.4-hectare land area, including coastal shoreline, inside the ZamboEcoZone for the establishment of the Coast Guard Southwestern Mindanao Complex that will serve as a support base facility.
The infrastructure will augment maritime law enforcement, maritime security, maritime safety, maritime search and rescue, and marine environmental protection initiatives of the Coast Guard in Zamboanga.
Regondola thanked the "Coast Guard for its commitment to support the growth of local and international businesses in the vicinity, thereby providing the Zamboangueño people with promising work opportunities without having to leave their families to pursue employment in Metro Manila or abroad.”