The Philippine Coast Guard is a growing organization in terms of manpower, assets and capabilities. And with its growing responsibility and challenges to support in maritime safety and law enforcement, it needs new capabilities.
Among those identified to improve its ability to "see" and monitor our country's maritime borders are the need for Coastal Radar Stations, which can detect, observe and monitor the movement of ships several miles away from our coastlines.
With this, the Philippine Coast Guard has prioritized the construction of new Radar Stations especially in the southern part of the country, which has a more porous border due to the geography and being close to the borders with Malaysia and Indonesia.
In this blog entry, which was authored by one of our active contributors "Herbie", we discuss the projects related to the construction of a first batch of 21 Coast Guard Radar Stations, which we collectively called the Coastal Radar Stations Phase 1 Project of the Philippine Coast Guard.
We would like to Herbie for his research, considering this is not the first time he is a guest writer for MaxDefense Philippines blogs.
Overview:
According to the Philippine Coast Guard, there is an urgent need to enhance the Philippines’ Maritime Domain Awareness to monitor its territorial and contiguous waters. The PCG's Coast Guard Weapons, Communications, Electronics, and Information System Command (CGWCEISC) have identified the need for 140 radar stations in order to come up with the whole picture of the country’s maritime domain.
With a currently limited budget, the Southern Philippines, with some of the more popular tourist spot destinations and busy sea lanes, is the priority area for the establishment of the Radar Systems.
Most of the prioritized radar locations are in the ZamBaSulTa (Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, Basilan) area.
21 radars were prioritized under PCG's assessment as part of a 1st batch to be constructed nationally. To do this, several projects were made by the Philippine Coast Guard.
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| Equipment used in CG Radar Stations Rio Hondo and Sibutu. Credits to DOTr. |
For easier reference, the author and MaxDefense Philippines called the combined projects as the PCG's Coastal Radar Stations Phase 1 Project, which can be subdivided into the construction of the 21 Coast Guard Radar Station buildings, the 10 Radar Station Systems publicly tendered, and the 11 Radar Systems donated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as Grant Aid.
The partitioning are as follows:
1. Coast Guard Radar Station Buildings
1a. Construction of 14 Radar Station Buildings: 1 project with an approved budget of Php140 million. This was publicly tendered, and Notice of Award was given to Fabmik Construction & Equipment, with a Contract worth Php139,528,339.02 signed and Notice to Proceed released on 01 February 2019.
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| PhilGEPS screenshot showing details on Construction of 14 Radar Station Buildings. |
1b. Construction of 5 Radar Station Buildings: 1 project with an approved budget of Php50 million. This was also publicly tendered, with the Notice of Award given to Protech Construction and Development Corporation, with a Contract worth Php49,820,360.67 signed and Notice to Proceed released on 11 February 2019.
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| PhilGEPS screenshot showing details on Construction of 5 Radar Station Buildings. |
1c. Construction of CG Radar Station Kalamansig Building: 1 project for a specific building location, with an approved budget of Php9.7 million. Also publicly tendered, the project was awarded to A.G Araja Construction & Development Corporation with a Contract amount of Php9,664,884.08 signed and Notice to Proceed on 13 January 2020.
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| PhilGEPS screenshot showing details on Construction of Radar Station Kalamansig Building. |
1d. Construction of CG Radar Station Basilan Building: another project specifically for 1 building, with an approved budget of Php21 million. A Notice of Award was given to an unidentified company, with contract signed and Notice to Proceed released on 21 June 2021.
2. PCG Radar Station Systems: 1 project specifically for the Supply, Delivery and Installation of Radar Systems, with 10 units involved. The project was also publicly tendered and was awarded to Scan Marine Inc. on 11 October 2019, with a contract worth Php196,770,896.00 signed and Notice to Proceed released on 21 October 2019.
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| PhilGEPS record showing details on the Supply, Deliver and Installation of Radar Systems. Photo from Herbie, taken from PhilGEPS. |
3. Japan Grant Aid Radar Systems: this involves a JICA grant to the Philippines' Department of Transportation for the Philippine Coast Guard, involving the grant of 11 radar systems.
21 Radar Station Locations:
The Philippine Coast Guard Radar Project locations have been identified in previous publications. The following lists down the location of the radar stations under the Phase 1 projects:
PCG Radar Project Locations:
Mapun, Tawi-Tawi
Bayawan City, Negros Oriental
Bredco Port, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental
Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan
Balicasag Island, Panglao, Bohol
Dapitan City, Zamboanga Del Norte
Taganak, Turtle Islands, Tawi-Tawi
Sibutu, Tawi-Tawi
Pearl Bank, Tawi-Tawi
Sarangani, Davao Occidental
Japan Grant Aid Radar Project Locations:
Brgy Talisayan, Zamboanga City
Brgy Rio Hondo, Zamboanga City
Brgy Siraway, Zamboanga City
Olutanga, Zamboanga Sibugay
Brgy Baganian, Tabina, Zamboanga del Sur
Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat
Pangutaran, Sulu
Kawayan, Lugus Sulu
Bongao, Tawi-tawi
Basilan
Port Area, Sulu
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| A map showing the location of radar stations to be installed under this phase, separating PH funded and Japan funded radars. Photo credits to DOTr. |
Radar System Technical Specifications:
The systems
purchased by the PCG includes a Radar, AIS Base Receiver, Coastal
Camera with Day/Night capability, towers (at least 21 meters high),
various Base and Marine-band radios, hardware, software, CCTV systems
and power sources for each radar station.
It is surprising to see the
Technical Specifications have a specific radar brand (FURUNO) and
model in mind perhaps to match the radar systems donated by JICA.
FURUNO and ICOM are the brands used for the various surveillance
equipment.
Status of the Project:
Based on photos and information from the Philippine Coast Guard and our sources, several of the radar station buildings have already been completed, although several are still scheduled for construction as of early 2021.
Photos of some of the radar station buildings can be seen below.
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| Top: Coast Guard Radar Station Sibutu, Tawi-Tawi. Middle: Coast Guard Radar Station Olutanga, Zamboanga Sibugay. Bottom: Coast Guard Radar Stations Bayawan, Negros Oriental, and Coast Guard Radar Station Balicasag, Bohol. Photo credits to DOTr. |
It remains to be seen though if their scope also includes making the radars connected to the National Coast Watch System, which is also operated by the Philippine Coast Guard together with other government agencies.
Other PCG Radar-Related Proposals
With the PCG stating that they have identified 140 radar stations in order to come up with the whole picture of the country’s maritime domain, here are some PCG projects proposed last 2019 for the 2020 budget but not funded yet by the National Government:
Construction of Coast Guard Radar Stations – Php1.62 billion. This would allow the PCG to construct more radar stations to eventually meet the 140 radar stations needed to cover the entire country.
Procurement of Coast Guard Radar Equipment – Php2.7 billion. This is related to the construction of radar stations.
Beyond the Horizon Radar – Php400 million. This system is far more capable than standard coastal radars due to its wider and longer detection range, which would allow to see beyond the country's territorial waters and into its Exclusive Economic Zone, together with other assets like aircraft, ships and satellites.
Inter-agency harmonized and enhanced surveillance, enforcement, and development capabilities for the West Philippine Sea and Philippine Rise – Php5.614 billion. This is something that could help enhance interoperability with other agencies including the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police Maritime Group (PNP-MARIG), the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and other agencies involved in monitoring the West and East Philippine Sea including the Philippine Rise.
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There are many more interesting and exciting new projects coming with the Philippine Coast Guard, as they are given much more support financially and politically. This is as the service becomes the foremost agency in enforcing maritime laws, conducting search and rescue, and protecting our country's maritime territories and interest without creating tension considering its civilian nature.
With the slowdown in defense projects, MaxDefense Philippines is expected to provide more reports from the Philippine Coast Guard's modernization, especially with commitments to improve it further than ever before.
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| More and larger patrol vessels are underway to beef up the PCG's surface fleet. Photo credits to original sources. |
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Project Summary:
Coastal Radar Stations (Phase 1) Projects of the PCG (collection of
several projects)
Note: Edited as of 19 May 2021.
* End User:
Philippine Coast Guard
* Quantity: 21 Radar Stations
* Project ABC:
- 1a. Php140 million;
- 1b. Php50 million;
- 1c. Php9.7 million (Kalamansig);
- 1d. Php21
million (Basilan); 2
- 2. Php197.059 million;
- 3. JPY 1 billion
* Acquisition Mode:
- 1a. Negotiated Procurement;
- 1b. Negotiated Procurement;
- 1c.
Negotiated Procurement;
- 1d. Expected to be through public bidding;
- 2. Public Bidding;
- 3. Grant Aid (Japan radar systems)
* Source of Funding: GAA Funds, and Japan Grant Aid
* SARO Release: TBA
* Winning
Proponent:
- 1a. Fabmik Construction and Equipment Co. Inc.;
- 1b.
Protech Construction and Development Corporation;
- 1c. A.G. Araja
Construction & Development Corporation;
- 1d. TBC;
- 2.
Scan Marine Inc.;
- 3. TBC
* Product for
Delivery:
- 1a. 15 radar station buildings.;
- 1b. 4 radar station
buildings;
- 1c. 1 radar station building;
- 1d. 1 radar station
building;
- 2. 10 Radar Station Systems;
- 3. 11 Radar Station
Systems.
* Contract Price/s:
- 1a..Php139,528,339.02;
- 1b. Php49,820,360.67;
- 1c. Php9,664,884.08
- 1d. Not
bidded out yet;
- 2. Php196,770,896.00
- 3a. TBA
* First post by MaxDefense: TBA
* MaxDefense Searching Hashtag: #PCGCoastalRadarStationsP1Acquisition
* Project Status: Items 1a to 1c are under construction, with some already completed. Item 1d. is scheduled for tender. Delivery of Item 2 are ongoing, and will be dependent on the completion of the Coast Guard Station buildings. Item 3a was reported to have already been delivered to the PCG.
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First edit and release: 18 May 2021
Copyright MaxDefense Philippines & Herbie
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