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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider No 'Made in China' equipment in PCG's vessels -- official

No 'Made in China' equipment in PCG's vessels -- official

Published Feb 19, 2024 07:46 am

In the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), there's no equipment on its vessels that is manufactured in China, according to its spokesperson.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson on West Philippine Sea, said that its modern vessels were built in and delivered by other "like-minded" countries such as Japan.

"When we talk about the equipment of coast guard vessels, since these are all built from Japan and also inspected by our friends and allies, I don’t think that there is an equipment made in China inside our ships," Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson on West Philippine Sea, said over the weekend.

The official made the remark in response to a question if the PCG uses China-made equipment in light of the cybersecurity attack it faced recently.

Earlier this month, the Department of Information and Communications Tehcnology (DICT) said that it prevented a hacking attempt on the websites of several government agencies, including the PCG's National Coast Watch System.

The origin of the hacking try was traced to a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company but the Chinese government denied it had something to do with the cyber attack, and even offered assistance to the Philippine government to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile last week, the PCG's X (formerly Twitter) account was also hacked by unknown perpetrators but the page was eventually retrieved later on.

According to Tarriela, the PCG, under the leadership of its commandant, Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan, has taken "significant steps" to protect their information technology (IT) infrastructure, particularly the weapons and systems equipped on its ships and aircraft that are being deployed in the West Philippine Sea.

"Just like anybody else, we haven’t really reached much awareness when it comes to cybersecurity. But that is something that is now being considered by the national government, for everybody to be security conscious in the cyberspace," he said.

"When it comes to our vessels and aircraft that are being deployed in the West Philippine Sea, I am certain that those equipment are not compromised. All of these vessels are delivered by Japan and communications equipment were also being thoroughly inspected to make sure that it would not have a communications leak," he added.

Two of the PCG's 97-meter multi-role response vessels, BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701) and BRP Melchora Aquino (MRRV-9702), are delivered by Japan as well as the 10 units of 44-meter patrol vessels namely BRP Tubbataha, BRP Malabrigo, BRP Malapascua, BRP Capones, BRP Suluan, BRP Sindangan, BRP Cape San Agustin, BRP Cabra, BRP Bagacay, and BRP Cape Engaño.

When it comes to the cellular phones and other gadgets used by PCG personnel, Tarriela said he is not aware if any of these were made in China.

"I'm not sure when it comes to all the communications equipment in the coast guard," he admitted. "We haven't really conducted an [inventory] that deep."

Related Tags

Philippine Coast Guard PCG PH-China WPS debate West Philippine Sea
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