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AMID SECURITY THREATS
PCG border force trains for close quarter battle
By JOVILAND RITA, GMA Integrated NewsThe Coast Guard Security and Border Protection Force (CGSBPF) underwent a 15-day close quarter battle training in Pasay City, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Friday.
According to the PCG, the training centered on "tactical skills and strategies in response to the constantly changing landscape of security threats.”
“[Our] personnel developed proficiency in close quarter combat techniques, pistol and rifle fundamentals and skills, room clearing and building entry tactics, weapon handling and manipulation in confined spaces, team coordination and communication under stress, and decision-making in high-pressure situations,” the CGSBPF said.
“Furthermore, this training equipped [our] personnel with enhanced skills, confidence, and readiness to face the challenges in performing their mandated functions in line with the forthcoming activation of CGSBPF Special Reaction Unit,” it said.
The PCG force's battle training and activation of Special Reaction Unit came amid tensions between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
According to the PCG, protecting the WPS is included in the mandate of the CGSBPF. However, the force was not a part of the recent missions in the WPS.
On Tuesday, the PCG said China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels again fired water cannons at Philippine civilian vessels en route to Scarborough Shoal.
The PCG vessel BRP Bagacay sustained damage on a part of its superstructure.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel BRP Bankaw—which was also rammed by Chinese vessels three times—had damage to its heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical, navigation, and radio systems, and superficial hull.
Several countries have expressed concern over the incident.
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A Reuters report quoted Chinese ministry spokesperson Lin Jin as telling the Philippines to stop provocations and to not challenge China's determination to safeguard its "sovereignty."
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. Its territorial claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
Parts of the waters within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone have been renamed as the West Philippine Sea.
In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in the Hague said China's claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing has rejected.
On Thursday, the PCG said it will send a recommendation to the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea after the Chinese vessels used higher pressure in their recent water cannon attacks in Scarborough Shoal.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has also summoned Chinese Embassy of Manila Deputy Chief of Mission Zhou Zhiyong over the recent water cannon incident. —VAL/AOL, GMA Integrated News