Will the new PCGA Vice Admiral join PCG missions to the West Philippine Sea?
Liza Araneta-Marcos, lawyer and wife to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., just got a new title: Vice Admiral of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary (PCGA), or the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)’s volunteer force.
The First Lady officially joined the PCGA’s Executive Squadron in a ceremony aboard the BRP Gabriela Silang on Tuesday, July 16, according to PCG spokesperson Rear Admiral Armand Balilo.
She was bestowed the honorary rank of Auxiliary Vice Admiral, or a 3-star officer of the volunteer force.
“I join the PCG to inspire the men women of the organization as they fulfill its duty to the country,” said the First Lady, in a short release to media from Balilo.
Araneta-Marcos was joined by her son Vincent, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, and PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gavan, during her donning of rank.
The PCGA is a volunteer non-government organization that follows a “military structure” as it is attached to the PCG. One’s role as a PCGA member is rather vague – and will ultimately be up to an individual.
The PCGA counts as its members celebrity couple Gerald Anderson and Julia Barretto.
Balilo said Araneta-Marcos is the first First Lady to join the PCGA’s ranks.
Gavan, in a speech aboard the BRP Gabriela Silang, said the First Lady could help the PCGA since her “mere presence exudes strength and compassion that drive actions and inspire results,” according to a release from the PCG.
The PCG release added: “For her part, Auxiliary Vice Admiral Araneta-Marcos thanked Coast Guardians for ensuring maritime safety and maritime security, as well as upholding the country’s sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.”
But will she join PCG voyages to the West Philippine Sea, such as resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal? Balilo, responding to a media inquiry, said the First Lady didn’t say anything about it.
The PCGA is a separate entity from the PCG itself. The PCG, meanwhile, is among the frontline government agencies that’s had to deal with China’s growing aggression in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, particularly in the West Philippine Sea.
It’s the PCG that escorts vessels – be it civilian ships contracted by the Navy or vessels of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources – to flashpoints of Philippine-China tensions in the West Philippine Sea. – Rappler.com
