ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Abu to retire as PCG chief Thursday; who's succeeding him?

Abu to retire as PCG chief Thursday; who's succeeding him?

Published Oct 18, 2023 07:25 am
Abu.jpg
PCG Commandant Admiral Artemio Abu (Courtesy of RTVM livestream)

After serving as the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commandant for over one-and-a-half years, Admiral Artemio Abu will officially retire from the uniformed service on Thursday, Oct. 18.

Abu held the top PCG post since March 1, 2022, and has been in the service for 31 years since his graduation at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1992.

The retirement ceremony for Abu will be held around 3 p.m. at the PCG National Headquarters in Port Area, Manila and will be graced by Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista.

The successor of Abu will also be announced on the same day, an advisory from the PCG said.

There are five senior officials who have been nominated to replace Abu. They are Vice Adm. Rolando Lizor Punzalan, Vice Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan, Vice Adm. Joseph Coyme, Vice Adm. Allan Victor Dela Vega, and Vice Adm. Roy Echeverria.

Punzalan and Gavan are the second and third highest officers in the PCG hierarchy after Abu, respectively.

Punzalan is currently the PCG Deputy Commandant for Operations and is the most senior among the five nominees, being a member of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Tanglaw Diwa Class of 1992.

Meanwhile, Gavan is the PCG Deputy Commandant for Administration and a product of PMA Maalab Class of 1993.

Dela Vega is the commander of Weapons, Electronics and Information Systems while Echeverria serves as the commander of Maritime Security and Law Enforcement Command and director of the National Coast Watch Center. Both of them are also part of PMA Class of 1993.

Lastly, Coyme is the commander of the Maritime Services Command, and he belongs to the PMA Bantay Laya Class of 1994.

Abu’s successor will inherit a daunting task as the PCG continues to address various challenges in securing the country’s 36,000-kilometer-long coastline and conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster response during emergencies and natural calamities. 

It is also tasked to increase the current workforce of the PCG, which sits at 30,000-strong at present, and uphold the Philippines’ territorial integrity in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

During the 122nd anniversary celebration of the PCG on Tuesday, Oct. 17, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that 40 15-meter fast boats will be acquired by the Coast Guard as part of efforts to improve its capabilities.

“The President has also given us the go signal to start the bidding process of two units of 19-seater airplanes that would be used to intensify our maritime domain awareness (MDA) over the West Philippine Sea,” PCG spokesperson Rear Adm. Armando Balilo said Wednesday, Oct. 18.

“This will complement the vessels deployed in the West Philippine Sea and other areas of concern while on patrol operations,” he added.

Related Tags

PCG Artemio Abu
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.