PH, US coast guards hold joint passing exercise off Lubang Island
PCG
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine and United States (US) coast guards conducted a joint passing exercise (PASSEX) within the waters off Lubang Island in Occidental Mindoro on Tuesday.
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said its BRP Melchora Aquino and USCG Cutter Waesche participated in the PASSEX, focusing on “search and rescue operations, firefighting scenarios, communication exercises, and medical evacuations.
READ: West Philippine Sea: China Coast Guard’s ‘monster ship’ still in Escoda – PCG
“By sharing best practices, concepts, doctrines, and standard operating procedures, the PCG and USCG enhanced their capabilities to respond to maritime emergencies and contingencies,” PCG Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Armando Balilo, said.
PCG
“Sharing similar mandates, values, and objectives, the exercise highlighted the closer and expanding relations between the PCG and USCG. It strengthened maritime cooperation and interoperability between the two Coast Guard services, specifically in maritime safety and marine environmental protection,” he added.
Balilo said the collaboration will continue to expand to strengthen the capabilities of the countries’ coast guards in “responding to maritime contingencies and upholding a safe, secure, and peaceful rules-based maritime order.”
PCG
Before the conduct of PASSEX, a 135-meter Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) ship was spotted some 60 nautical miles (nm) west of Lubang Island last July 14, according to West Philippine Sea (WPS) monitor Ray Powell.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the WPS, confirmed the presence of the ship with hull number 5303 within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Earlier Wednesday, Powell revealed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that “CCG 5303 ended [its] two days of loitering activity off of Lubang Island yesterday but is extending its intrusive patrol even closer to the Philippines’ coastline.”
“It is now moving 35 to 40 nm from northern Palawan near El Nido,” he added.
Aside from the CCG 5303, Tarriela also revealed that China’s “monster ship” remains within Escoda (Sabina) Shoal, contrary to a previous report that it had left the country’s EEZ.
Based on previous reports, CCG’s gigantic patrol cutter with hull number 5901, also the largest coast guard vessel in the world, had been deployed off Escoda Shoal on July 3.
