36 Chinese nationals delisted from PCG auxiliary force –official

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has delisted 36 Chinese individuals as auxiliary force members due to lack of national security clearance, PCG commandant Admiral Ronnie Gavan told a congressional hearing on Wednesday.

Gavan made the disclosure in response to the question of Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers during the deliberation on a proposed bill on PCG reform and reorganization.

“We did conduct an investigation. We went though intelligence and national security agencies of the [Philippine government], and we have delisted 36 of them,” Gavan told lawmakers.

“We did check on their compliance and standards [we have] set [for them], and we found out that they did not comply so we initiated their delisting. They are now delisted,” he added.

Members of the PCG auxiliary force serve as volunteers, according to Gavan.

“We accept auxiliary force to the Philippine Coast Guard provided that they have secured national security clearance. These 36 Chinese, they don’t have national security clearance, and that is why we have delisted them. They are not in our roster anymore,” Gavan said.

Asked on how long the 36 Chinese citizens wer part of PCG auxiliary force before they were delisted, Gavan said “around two to three years, or even before.” 

According to him, the requirement of having a national security clearance for PCG auxiliary force members was only implemented when he was named PCG commandant by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in October 2023.

Barbers then said that the PCG should continue its probe on who recruited the 36 Chinese individuals as PCG auxiliary force members and hold them liable, saying such recruitment of foreigners might have compromised the country’s national security especially amid the consistent Chinese aggression toward Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea.

“Are foreigners like the Chinese, especially the Chinese, allowed to become members of the auxiliary force of our Coast Guard? These Chinese served as auxiliary members of our Coast Guard for two, three years…they may be performing spying duties in the guise of being auxiliary force members,” Barbers said.

“We have to backtrack and find out who are the PCG personnel involved in recruiting these members because this is a national security issue. If we are infiltrated by these Chinese, then it will render our Coast Guard and Armed Forces useless. Somebody, somehow, somewhere, allowed them to be members of the auxiliary force,” he added.

Gavan then assured Barbers that those responsible for the recruitment of the Chinese individuals would be identified and punished accordingly.

“We will proceed with this inquiry, and rest assured, I will do my part as a commandant to ensure our national security,” Gavan said.

“We will be going through it (investigation), your honors, and one of those involved in the early stages of recruitment, unfortunately, died of natural causes,” he added.

A July 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration has upheld the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in West Philippines Sea, which is 200 nautical miles off territorial sea, as well as declared Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal and Recto (Reed) Bank as located within the Philippines’ EEZ as provided by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas.

The same Hague-based court also junked China’s expansive claim of having sovereignty over the entire South China Sea. China has refused to acknowledge the international court’s ruling. —KBK, GMA Integrated News