Balicasag radar facility places
Bohol as tourism security hub
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, September 24 (PIA)—When operational, it would be tougher for criminal elements and terrorists on board boats to slip through the dragnet spread by the pulsing tentacles of the radar which the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) installs in Balicasag Island.
The new radio detection and ranging (radar) in Balicasag Island off Panglao rages to as far as 25 nautical miles of about 47 kilometers and this reaches out way past Dumaguete City and completely covers the seas dividing Bohol and Cebu as well as that of Cebu and Dumaguete.
Generally, radar detection is by reflection from the object; any movement the object produces, a doppler signal from which via complex analysis, one can find the status of the object, human beings and small objects among them.
The installation can be key information source about any vessel transiting the area, their size, general direction and this can be verified by a network of ranging stations installed in all Coast Guard floating and installed assets, stated Bohol Coast Guard Station Commander Lieutenant Patrick John Cabasag.
And when the Balicasag radar would have limited reach, when it would be interlinked with another radar facility in Negros, as well as radars onboard Coast Guard ships and assets, it could help direct law enforcers or special action teams to apprehend and enforce laws even in high seas.
The installation of the vital facility had no less than Governor Arthur Yap, PCG Commodore William Isaga who incidentally heads Coast Guard Weapons, Communication and Information Systems (COAST-WISE) Command for Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Elson Hermogino, PCG Visayas District Commander Ronnie Gil Gavan and Panglao LGU representative Amira Alia Montero.
According to Commodore Isaga, the radar facility would be hub of tourism defense in the region, as Balicasag lies just within the radar range of Apo Island, Dumaguete City, southern Cebu and the world class resorts of Panglao and Pamilacan.
It was a lesson in 2013 when terrorists Muslim separatists sneaked into Bohol and inserted themselves in Inabanga.
Although the incursion did not bid well for the southern terrorists guided by a local, the government authorities vowed not to let anything similar happen.
Commodore Isaga said the facility will be able to deter terrorist activities in the region especially those who come through the seas.
Apart from stopping potential terrorists from entering the region, the facility can also be very crucial in helping the government enforce maritime safety and environmental law implementation.
As the radar facility operates, it has the capacity to keep a full time watch, to monitor, detect and identify sea vessels within its area of coverage, Lt. Cabasag of Bohol CG station explained.
The facility would be one among the 20 such facilities that the government would put up in the Visayas and Mindanao areas to counter piracy and the spilling over of the terroristic activities in the south.
The facility would cost the government some P19 million while this would be placed in a P10 million three storey building built in the highest point of Balicasag Island, which in itself is a Naval reservation island.
The radar is just first among the plans laid out for the Visayas, Commodore Isaga said.
The PCG is also putting up fast patrol boats, jetski and all terrain coastal patrol vehicles for the government’s coastal patrol units plus a company sized quick reaction force that doubles up as tourism related rescue and response.
This reaction force of the PCG special operations team would be composed of divers graduates of Basic Life Support courses, with high tech equipment, which can be deployed anytime, Commodore Isaga shared.
With these, Bohol, which is already a tourism star, would be transformed into a tourism superstar and would be the tourism security hub in Central Visayas, he stressed. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
Book online travel tickets in Asia, Australia and New Zealand at:
https://12go.asia/?z=3467325Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=91123.0
