PCG offers boats to ferry health workers

March 22, 2020

The Philippine Coast Guard is offering its boats to ferry health workers affected by the suspension of sea transportation because of the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon due to the spread of coronavirus disease.

“The small boat operators of Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), if there are health workers or patients who need sea transportation, we will provide them,” Commodore Armand Balilo, PCG spokesman, said in a public briefing on Sunday.

“That is the directive of Admiral Joel Garcia to all the coast guard personnel with floating assets that in case our people, especially the health workers, need transportation to cross the sea or river, we should make our assets available (for them),” he added.

Balilo also reiterated that aside from buses, the PCG also deploys its smaller vehicles to transport patients and health workers who requested assistance.

He said that as part of the effort to help the government in containing the coronavirus disease, the PCG is also conducting checkpoint operations to examine the health condition of the fishermen and crew members in the different ports.

“In fact the PCG also conducts checkpoint, whenever there are fishing boats returning and cargo vessels arriving. We examine their crew members before we allow them to go down their vessels, their body temperature and health condition are being checked,” Balilo added. Robina Asido/DMS