PORT SECURITY. Personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) monitor disembarking roll on-roll off (RoRo) passengers at a port in Isabela City, Basilan on Tuesday (Aug. 16, 2022). The PCG is on heightened alert and has placed more security and safety units in ports all over the country to prepare for the expected influx of students this August. (Photo courtesy of PCG)
MANILA – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has deployed more security and safety units in ports all over the country to prepare for the first day of classes and partial return of face-to-face mode of learning in August.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the PCG showcased the deployment of security personnel, K9 teams, medical officers, and an additional workforce from the PCG Auxiliary to ensure the safety and welfare of the students and other maritime passengers.
The intensified security operations, it said, are part of ‘OPLAN Balik Eskwela 2022,’ a multi-agency effort to ensure that the country’s transportation and education backbone is ready for the return of students to the streets and schools following a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
As part of the program, the PCG placed all of its districts, stations, and sub-stations on “heightened alert” from August 15 to 29.
To date, the PCG monitored an increasing number of port passengers -- with 39,188 outbound and 32,486 inbound port passengers from 12 a.m. until Tuesday noon.
For the same period, it deployed 2,239 personnel in 15 PCG districts and inspected 542 vessels and 743 motorized bancas. (PNA)
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