Philippines, Vietnam setting up SCS hotline

MANILA, Philippines —  A communication hotline between the Philippine Coast Guard and Vietnamese Coast Guard (VCG) that would hasten response to maritime incidents could become effective in a couple of months, according to PCG spokesman Rear Admiral Armand Balilo.

Balilo said a memorandum of understanding for maritime cooperation was signed during President Marcos’ state visit to Vietnam.

Marcos and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong witnessed on Tuesday the exchange of notes between the PCG and VCG on maritime cooperation, as well as the MOU on Incident Prevention and Management in the South China Sea between their ministries of foreign affairs.

The establishment of a hotline between the two coast guard agencies was signed by Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan for the PCG and Major General Le Quang Dao for the VCG.

Gavan said this will enhance the strategic partnership and cooperation between the two coast guards toward promoting, preserving and protecting their mutual interest in the Southeast Asian region.

After the MOU signing, Balilo said the next step is for “parties from the two coast guard agencies to have a bilateral meeting, wherein the topics that they would discuss are the details on the implementation of the hotline which could be done in two months.”

“Other topics on the table could include discussions on possible joint exercises with the VCG such as on anti-piracy, boarding exercises, people-to-people exchanges and port calls,” he added.

Balilo earlier explained that putting up a “hotline of communication” between the PCG and VCG would also hasten their responses to emergency situations such as search and rescue operations and marine environmental protection responses, including oil spills.

It could also speed up coordination in case there would be missing Vietnamese or Filipino fishermen at sea.

Having a dedicated line of communication could also be useful in settling incidents in case Vietnamese fishermen would be caught poaching in Philippine waters by the PCG.

Balilo had also said that “while we have a Department of Foreign Affairs and its counterpart in Vietnam, there are coast guard matters that could already be taken up at the level of the coast