Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Tuesday, July 20, hailed the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for successfully driving away a Chinese navy warship from the waters off El Nido, Palawan.
"Salute to our David to their Goliath. Our Coast Guard is doing a commendable job with the limited resources available to them," Pangilinan said in his statement.
“We thank them for their invaluable contributions in protecting our territorial waters including the livelihood of our fishermen," he added.
The PCG on Monday, July 19, reported its BRP Cabra challenged last July 13 Chinese Navy Warship 189 in the Marie Louise Bank, which is located approximately 147 nautical miles from El Nido, Palawan.
The opposition senator said such feat emphasizes the need to augment the PCG's budget for next year, so its personnel could conduct more patrols in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
"We should provide them with more budgetary support so that they could do more,” Pangilinan said.
He noted that the the PCG's P13.2-million budget for this year was lower than its 2020 budget of P15.22 million.
“Biruin nyo, 80 porsyento ng ating territoryo ay mga katubigan ngunit kakarampot lamang ang budget upang protektahan ito. Pinagkakasya lang ng ating mga magigiting na Coast Guard (Imagine, 80 percent of our territory consists of water but we are only allocating a meager budget to protect it. Our Coast Guard is forced to make do with their fund)," he said.
"Supporting the Coast Guard means supporting our stand on the West Philippine Sea,” he pointed out.
He vowed to support a higher budget allocation for the PCG in the upcoming deliberations for the 2022 national budget.
Earlier, Pangilinan also proposed the creation of a Department of Fisheries and Aquatic resources to better allocate resources for Philippine maritime assets.