Coast Guard to hold sea crash exercise in Mactan on Friday

Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael John Encina says the sea crash exercise will be the first one to be done in the country. | Futch Anthony Inso

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard in Central Visayas (PCG-7), together with the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), will conduct a Sea Crash Exercise in the seawater of Magellan Bay in Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City on Friday, November 29, 2019.

PCG-7 Spokesperson Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael John Encina said that this would be the very first sea crash exercise that will be conducted in the country.

“This is the first in the country. Wala pang naka-conduct na ganito (Nobody had conducted this kind of exercise in the country) even before. This will also test our skills knowledge and attitude in incidents like this,” said Encina during a press briefing at the PCG-7 office at Pier 3 in Cebu City.

Other agencies that will participate in the simulation exercise include the Maritime Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (LDRRMO) in Lapu-Lapu City. 

The activity will start at 2 p.m.

Encina said that during the simulation, dummies would be placed in the seawater of Magellan Bay, which will serve as victims, and airplane debris.

The exercise will focus in four important areas, namely: the Command Center that will be situated in the airport; the incident command post in the shoreline of Magellan Bay; the Medical Area situated in the Cebu Yacht Club in Barangay Pusok; and the incident area in the seawater of Magellan Bay.

He said that during the incident, PCG-7 would deploy a Coast Guard vessel and eight small floating assets while the Maritime Police would deploy a speedboat.

“After matanggap yung distress, ididispatch na namin yung mga floating assets (After we will receive the distress signal, we will dispatch the floating assets),” he added.

Medical teams and ambulances from the PCG-7, MCIAA, PRC and Local DRRM in Lapu-Lapu City will also be deployed.

K9 units will also be deployed while local fisherfolks will participate in the search and rescue operation.

According to Encina, the sea crash exercise will help promote tourism in the province, assure tourists about their safety, and to give the necessary assistance if such incident will occur here.

Encina, however, admitted that the acitivity was very challenging for them since this would be their first time to conduct a sea crash simulation exercise.

These challenges include identifying of the nearest hospitals where the victims/survivors will be brought and the traffic situation in the city.

“This will be an avenue for growth and development for us in PCG-7 in order to fill the gap in incidents like this,” he said./dbs