LEGAZPI CITY --- Preparations are ongoing for the holding of the ASEAN Coast Guard Forum, a two-day meeting to be held on November 21-22 this year at the Misibis Bay Resort in Bacacay town in Albay, an official of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Bicol said Monday.
The Association of South East Asia Nations-National Organizing Council (ASEAN-NOC) issued a communication over the weekend that said it decided to hold the ASEAN Coast Guard Forum in Albay, prompting local authorities to reactivate Task Group Legazpi as the NOC local counterpart here, according to Joy Tango, DILG Bicol spokesperson.
“We were caught by surprise when the ASEAN NOC asked us to start the necessary preparations for the event which is part of the ASEAN 31st Summit held in Manila,” Tango said.
Attending the forum are 90 delegates, of whom 30 are from ASEAN countries.
Since the forum would tackle coastal maritime concerns, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) was placed as the forum lead agency, Tango said.
Lt. Marlowe Acebido, PCG Bicol operations officer, in an interview Monday said they are still waiting for the specific details of the forum coming from the central office.
Asked on the issues to be raised during the forum, he said among the top agenda line-up are maritime issues among ASEAN member nations.
“Based on initial information, the topics for the ASEAN Coastguard Forum 2017 to be discussed would be: Linkage and cooperation between ASEAN member nations; Training and capability buildings among ASEAN members; Adoption of maritime and relative international conventions and Harmonizations of the rules of engagement among ASEAN coastguard,” Acebido said.
"The itinerary and other important details of the forum are still to be verified by our central office (PCG) since we don’t have it yet," he added.
The NOC gave one week as lead time for the preparations of the venue and accommodations of delegates, forum agenda, transportations and security matters.
Travel distance from Legazpi Domestic Airport to Misibis Bay Resort in Bacacay town is about 37 kilometers.
The ASEAN Ministerial Telecommunication meeting set at the Misibis Bay Resort last August 21 to 25 was canceled because of security threats.
ASEAN NOC Director General for Operations, Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr., said the cancellation of the event was recommended by the ASEAN Committee on Security.
The cancellation was likely due to intelligence information gathered that the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), was planning to launch violent activities in the region as an act of retaliation to the successful operations of the military force against the communist group. (PNA)
