KINILALA ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ang kahalagahan ng Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) na siyang inatasan na magbantay sa boundary ng bansa.

Kasabay ito ng isinagawang oath-taking ng mga tauhan ng PCG sa Malacañang.

“That is why we must guard ourselves, we must be ready and aware and industrious in the work that we do to make sure that we do not have any untoward incidents, that we do not have any mistakes, we do not have any misunderstandings that might cause the problem to escalate out of our control,” sabi ng Pangulo.

“I’m confident that all of our officers know this mission, that all our officers know how to fulfill that mission. And that is why we continue to support you in every way that we can so our citizens feel safe,” dagdag pa ng Pangulo.

Ayon sa Pangulo ang dating trabaho ng Navy na bantayan ang karagatan ay nailipat na sa PCG.

“The reason for this is very simple. We do that so that we will not raise the tensions by putting in units and assets of the Philippine military into the area. At because sinasabi natin these are not military vessels, they are Coast Guard,” ani Pangulong Marcos.

“But as many of the incidents have started to show over the past few years, that mission has become more, shall we say, intense. Now you are expected to defend not only the coastline, but to defend our nationals,” sabi pa nito.

Tiniyak naman ng Pangulo na susuportahan nito ang mga hakbang upang magpatuloy ang modernisasyon ng PCG.

“This is something that is critical to the safety of the citizens of the Philippines. It is critical in the defense of the Republic. It is critical to the defense of our territory,” giit pa ng Pangulo.