Coast Guard on alert for ‘suspicious’ Manila-bound passengers

MANILA, Philippines – As a security precaution in preparation for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit next week, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it has conducted the profiling of Manila-bound passengers.

Commodore Joel Garcia, head of the Task Force on Maritime Security for APEC, said on Wednesday, November 11, that PCG stations nationwide, particularly in the Visayas and in Mindanao, were alerted to be on the “lookout for possible threats or suspicious-looking persons going to Manila.”

Garcia said  PCG personnel will take pictures and videos of all passengers boarding ships headed to Manila as a precaution, since the national capital will host APEC leaders and other prominent international personalities next week.

The PCG official also said that the government will secure APEC delegates when they go on sunset cruises around Manila Bay or trips to Corregidor Island and other tourist spots in the country.

Garcia said this is part of the government’s contingency plans for APEC Manila.

He said PCG personnel and other members of security forces would accompany foreign delegates in their island-hopping and countryside tours.

“Our tour boats would have sea marshals. During their trips, they would be escorted. There would be floating assets to accompany them,” Garcia said. 

The PCG will monitor vessels coming into Manila Bay, which is adjacent to the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City, the venue of the APEC Summit to be attended by APEC leaders on November 18 and 19.

The PCG said it will monitor the north or south side of Corregidor Island through the Vessel Traffic Monitoring System, which it jointly operates with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA). 

Island-hopping, tours that explore the historic sites in Corregidor, and sunset cruises around Manila Bay are very popular among the APEC delegates, the PCG official said. (READ: Touring Corregidor, one of the country’s last military bastions)

“This is part of the contingency plan. We can’t deny that based on our past experiences, the delegates went to Corregidor while the others had tours in Manila Bay,” Garcia said. 

The task force head stressed that a tour boat would not be allowed to sail without PCG accreditation. The PCG has also designated an “exclusion zone” in Manila Bay, where vessels’ movement are restricted.

“If they (ships) want to move in that exclusion zone, they have to ask permission from the task force maritime security. Those vessels want to berth or dock at South Harbor, they would be escorted by our forces,” said Garcia.

The PCG, the lead agency of the Maritime Task Force at Manila Bay, will implement a “no sail zone” along Pasig River from November 17 to 20, also as a safety precaution for foreign leaders and delegates attending the APEC meetings. – Rappler.com