The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) was placed on a “heightened alert” status ahead of the opening of classes for School Year 2022 to 2023, it said on Tuesday, August 16.
Admiral Artemio Abu, PCG Commandant, ordered all Coast Guard districts, stations, and sub-stations to tighten their security and ensure the safety of students and other passengers traveling by sea in preparation for the opening of school classes on August 22.
The tighter implementation of security measures began on August 15 and will last until August 29 as part of the PCG’s contribution to the “Oplan Balik Eskwela 2022” of the Department of Education (DepEd).
PCG security personnel, K9 teams, medical officers, and PCG Auxiliary volunteers were deployed on the ground to man all harbors, ports, and passenger terminals, Abu noted.
From 6 a.m. to 12 noon Tuesday, the PCG monitored a total of 28,449 outbound port passengers and 23,694 inbound port passengers nationwide.
The passengers were from 337 vessels and 545 motorbancas inspected by 2,198 field personnel.
On Monday, the monitoring peaked at 80,595 outbound port passengers and 68,081 inbound port passengers nationwide.