PCG and China Coast Guard agree to joint maritime exercise in June

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) agreed to conduct joint maritime exercises with China this June, Unang Balita reported on Wednesday.

This is part of the agreement made by the Philippines and China during the three-day Joint Coast Guard Committee (JCGC) meeting held in Subic, Zambales last February 19.

At the inaugural meeting, both countries agreed to strengthen their maritime cooperation in the "sectors of preventing and combating drug trafficking and other transnational crimes, [search and rescue], environment protection and emergency response."

The memorandum of understanding for these training exercises was signed in Beijing in October 2017 and was witnessed by President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

Unang Balita reported that 20 PCG personnel will be sent to China for law enforcement training while two boats will be sent to Guandong. 

In exchange, the Chinese Coast Guard will send a boat to the Port of Manila.

This was noted as the first joint training between the Philippines' and China's coast guards. —Rie Takumi/KG, GMA News