by Romy Sabaldan

Davao City (20 May) -- The Australian government has already donated eight brand new vessels to reinforce the maritime capability in the sea lanes and modernize search and rescue operations of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

This was revealed Friday by Commodore Edmund C. Tan, coast guard commander of the Southeastern Mindanao District, one of the fifty four coast guard districts all over the Philippines.

Speaking before members and officers of the Davao Christian Leadership (DCL), Commodore Tan said the reinforcement coming from the neighboring continent has helped the country modernize its aging fleet of patrol vessels.

Tan, the youngest ranking commodore in the entire Philippine maritime forces, said that the donation of the Australia government was a very big help to the modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

As to the suggestion of the PCG being absorbed by the Philippine Navy, it should be the other way around if you compare the eight new vessels to the aging World War II vintage crafts of the PN, the commodore said talking in jest before a mixed audience of Davao businessmen, media and American missionaries.

He said the need to modernize and strengthen the country's patrol vessels and maritime capability is a primary concern noting that the Philippines possesses a very rich coastal resource and coastlines which when put together and measured, is twice as much longer than that of the USA.

Commodore Tan said the eight donated patrol ships are the modern 56-meter long speedy patrol vessels which will also be used in search and rescue operations with a built-in recompression chamber and other life-saving equipment aside from its big contribution in the overall maritime environmental concerns.