New training center to boost PH Coast Guard's capability to defend PH waters — US envoy
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)'s capacity to protect the country's assets in the Philippine waters is expected to be bolstered after its new training center was inaugurated on the joint efforts of the Philippine and United States governments.
At the Coast Guard Training Center Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson said the new facility will "mark an important advance in the Philippine Coast Guard's ability."
That includes "to safely operate and maintain PCG assets that preserve maritime safety, protect the marine environment, enforce maritime laws, and defend Philippine sovereign rights in the waters around the Philippines, including in the West Philippine Sea (WPS)," Carlson added.
The US has considerable interest in the WPS. and in the greater body of water it is connected to, the South China Sea (SWS), as trillions of dollars worth of trade and commerce pass through these waters yearly.
Carlson said the US always stands with the PCG as it defends the Philippine sovereign rights and uphold the rules-based international order.
"While our support for the PCG is enduring, it took many years and collaboration among multiple agencies to complete this ambitious two-hundred-fifty-million-peso project," she said, referring to the Balagtas Technical Training Center.
"Today’s event is the culmination of significant efforts by our two governments over the course of six years," Carlson added.