Coast Guard to secure Subic free port

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has agreed to help secure Subic Freeport Zone, a move that will boost the port’s attractiveness to investors and shipping firms, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said Wednesday in a statement.

Under a recently signed memorandum of agreement between the two parties, the coast guard will aid SBMA in conducting vessel inspections, search and rescue efforts, harbor patrol and oil spill response operations. SBMA had also provided PCG free use of a port building for its station.

Encourage investments

"This will keep Subic Bay safe and encourage more investors to come here," SBMA Chairman Feliciano G. Salonga said in the statement.

Already, big-ticket investments at the free port include those of Korean shipbuilder Hanjin and the Philippine Shipping and Engineering Co., SBMA said.

Coast Guard Subic station chief Lt. Elizier Dalnay was quoted in the statement as saying: "We will deploy some of our vessels in Subic Bay to assist the SBMA in implementing maritime safety and humanitarian operations within and in contiguous areas of Subic free port."

PCG will also be establishing a training school at the free port, SBMA said. - BusinessWorld