From April 24 to April 30, the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) dispatched its Mobile Cooperation Team (MCT), a special team that provides foreign coast guard agencies with capacity building on maritime safety and security, to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) under the framework of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

During this time, JCG jointly conducted capacity building support together with U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) for PCG.

While USCG conducted capacity building on knowledge and expertise for on-site inspections, JCG’s capacity building focused on arresting techniques, provided for 14 instructors and 48 trainees from PCG on the 97m-class patrol vessel BRP “Teresa Magbanua,” recently handed over by Japan, as well as at the PCG Headquarters in Manila.

JCG and USCG have strengthened mutual cooperation under their close relationship since the establishment of JCG in 1948. Following this collaboration training, JCG and USCG are looking to provide further capacity building support to PCG in the near future.

Japan hopes that this capacity building for PCG by JCG and USCG will contribute to the improvement of PCG’s maritime law enforcement and to the realization of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific.” Japan Information and Culture Center