Marpolex 2024, isinasagawa sa Bacolod City
Marpolex 2024, isinasagawa sa Bacolod City;
Mga mangingisda sa Bajo de Mansinloc, hiling na samahan sila ng PCG habang nangingisda
Mga mangingisda sa Bajo de Mansinloc, hiling na samahan sila ng PCG habang nangingisda
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00:00Regional Marine Pollution Exercise 2024
00:04We will be talking with Rear Admiral Arman Balilo,
00:09the spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard.
00:12Rear Admiral Balilo, good afternoon.
00:15Good afternoon, Sheryl. Good afternoon to all of our viewers.
00:21Okay, aside from the West Philippine Sea talks,
00:23there are other things that our Philippine Coast Guard is concerned about.
00:29So, Admiral, what is this Marine Pollution Exercise or MARPOL-X 2024
00:36in Bacolod City, where the Philippines is the host?
00:40Yes, this is an ongoing exercise that we are currently doing here in Bacolod.
00:46This is a biennial exercise that is being conducted
00:49between Indonesia, Japan, the Japan Coast Guard, and the Philippine Coast Guard.
00:54This is about issues related to environmental protection
01:00related to oil spills.
01:02This is also training the participants
01:05to have a proper and quick response
01:11if there is a spread of pollution in the countries mentioned.
01:15So, that is what we are trying to focus on,
01:17including the interoperability of participating vessels.
01:21We are also practicing the exercises that can be conducted
01:26such as passing exercises, communication exercises,
01:29and other things that are related to oil spills.
01:33Why is this exercise important?
01:36Well, Director Sheryl,
01:37there are a lot of ships passing through the maritime routes of the Philippines,
01:42especially in the Southern Philippines, in the Sulawesi.
01:46And there are also a lot of tankers here.
01:50And that is what we are preparing for.
01:54We don't want it to happen, but just like what happened in Mindoro oil spill
01:58that we were not able to avoid,
02:00we will be able to respond properly
02:03and we will be able to avoid pollution in the rich seas of our ocean.
02:07Okay.
02:08So, sir, how many people from the Philippine Coast Guard
02:11will participate in this exercise?
02:15And how many ships will participate in this?
02:17For all of them, not just the Philippine Coast Guard,
02:20about 300 participants coming from Indonesia and Japan.
02:25There are five ships,
02:28three to four from the Philippine Coast Guard.
02:31And there are also ships from Indonesia
02:36and there are also ships from Japan.
02:38There are observers from other countries like the US,
02:42Taiwan, Vietnam,
02:44the ITOF of Singapore and the United Kingdom.
02:48And then we also involved the private stakeholders
02:51that are involved in the oil spill cleanup
02:54when the oil spill happened.
02:57Sir, now, the actual exercise in the Black Sea,
03:00can you share with us
03:03what is happening in the exercises?
03:06Director Sherry, at the moment,
03:08they have a scenario that was done there
03:13where there is a distress vessel that is on fire.
03:16So, the first exercise would be firefighting.
03:19We will use the water cannon here.
03:21Ah, so this is where the water cannon is used.
03:25Yes, the water cannon is used there.
03:27After that, there is a scenario where people will jump
03:31because they need to be rescued.
03:32And we will train our capability in search and rescue.
03:37And there will be a scenario
03:39where there is a spillway and we will place the oil spill boom there
03:44and we will see the capability of our Marine Environmental Protection personnel
03:48on how they will divert the spilled oil
03:52and how to avoid the oil spill in the Black Sea.
03:54If there are oil spills like that,
03:56what do you do? Do you pump the oil?
03:58How do you...
03:59Well, because it won't mix the oil and the water.
04:02Yes, there are different ways to remove the oil.
04:06The first way is to collect the oil manually.
04:11And what we did in Mindoro,
04:13we collected the oil, the spilled tarballs.
04:19But most of it, we collected the oil that was left in the tanker that sank
04:27and we made sure that there was no oil left before we left it.
04:30Yes, because it's like this.
04:33Does it happen every year that there is an oil spill?
04:35Not really.
04:36Very seldom.
04:37There have been big improvements in our maritime advocacy
04:45to avoid oil spills.
04:47And that was the saddest thing that happened in the past years
04:51when the tanker sank in Mindoro.
04:54But other than that,
04:55we always have limited data on where there is a wide oil spill.
05:00Alright.
05:01Okay, in other talks, Rear Admiral,
05:04what is your reaction or what can you say
05:06to the fishermen here in Bajo de Masinloc
05:10that if possible,
05:11they should be accompanied by a Philippine Coast Guard ship
05:14whenever they are going to sail?
05:16Well, Admiral Ronnie Gaban,
05:19the Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard,
05:21has already given assurance that there is always a deployment
05:23here in Bajo de Masinloc.
05:25In fact, two ships are being replaced here in Bajo de Masinloc
05:30and one ship, the 97-meter Philippine Coast Guard,
05:33is staying in Sabina Shoal,
05:35in the area of Calayaan, Palawan.
05:39And our assurance is that we will accompany the fishermen
05:45so that they won't have any doubts
05:47that they can be targeted by the China Coast Guard.
05:51And maybe our call is that
05:54because the ocean is so big,
05:56sometimes they don't see it,
05:58maybe there is a refurbishment or they go around the other side.
06:00But the presence of the Philippine Coast Guard is there.
06:04Okay.
06:05Sir, the government,
06:06through the Department of Foreign Affairs,
06:08has decided to negotiate
06:10or use a diplomatic channel
06:13to de-escalate the tensions in the West Philippine Sea.
06:17At the level of the Philippine Coast Guard,
06:19do you have a plan to negotiate with the Chinese Coast Guard?
06:24We don't have the power to agree to negotiate,
06:27but the Philippine Coast Guard is ready
06:30to negotiate with our counterparts
06:32because we also believe that nothing can be lost.
06:36And it would be good if we can talk about the issues
06:39that are related to both coast guards.
06:41Because what happened back then,
06:45there were negotiations that were made.
06:47And what we asked of the China Coast Guard there
06:49is not to care about our fishermen
06:51who are fishing in Bajo de Masinloc.
06:53We saw that there were good results.
06:57So, you have talked before,
06:59there were meetings with the Chinese Coast Guard,
07:04the Philippine Coast Guard,
07:06about this issue that is related to the West Philippine Sea?
07:10No, in particular, what we talked about there
07:13is the fishermen's rights
07:15that can also be agreed upon,
07:17if we are allowed to talk to the Chinese Coast Guard.
07:23But like what I'm telling you,
07:25we don't have the power to make this decision.
07:28This will come from the Department of Foreign Affairs
07:30or the National Maritime Council.
07:32But what we are saying is,
07:33if there is an order to negotiate,
07:36the Philippine Coast Guard is ready.
07:38But before, you talked about the rights of our fishermen.
07:43Yes.
07:44What was the result?
07:45It was good because there was a time
07:49when no fishermen were harassed in Bajo de Masinloc.
07:53When was that?
07:56I don't remember the year.
07:58But the Philippine Coast Guard
08:02and the Department of Foreign Affairs
08:04pushed for this.
08:04And we saw that there were good results.
08:06You know, it's also good to have a people-to-people exchange.
08:12And you can tell each other face-to-face
08:15about your differences or issues.
08:19This is what you do and you stop it.
08:22And you say what you want.
08:24And the important thing here is to talk.
08:27You don't leave your neighbors who are fighting
08:31and you go to the barangay to talk
08:33and tell them what you feel.
08:36And maybe you have a point to agree.
08:39That's all we want.
08:40But again, this decision will come from
08:44the Department of Foreign Affairs.
08:45What I'm saying is,
08:46the Philippine Coast Guard is ready if we give an order.
08:50Alright.
08:51A message to our fellow Filipinos from you
08:54at the PCG.
08:55Well, just like the Marine Pollution Exercise,
08:59the Philippine Coast Guard is looking for a solution
09:04to make sure that we respond well
09:09when there is an oil spill.
09:11And in the presence of the Philippine Sea,
09:14as I said earlier,
09:16Admiral Gavan has an order
09:18to sustain our patrol
09:21so that our fellow fishermen
09:25can continue their fishing.
09:27Alright.
09:27Thank you very much for your time.
09:30Rear Admiral Arman Balilo
09:32is the spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard.