QuestionsQuestions (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 475)
EO 475 transfers the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) from the Department of National Defense (Philippine Navy) to the Office of the President, while maintaining its mandate on maritime safety and marine environmental protection and providing for the transition requirements.
Under Republic Act No. 5173, the PCG is an agency created and established as a major unit of the Philippine Navy.
EO 475 states that the PCG remains a major subordinate unit of the Philippine Navy by virtue of Section 54, Chapter 8, Subtitle II, Title VIII, Book IV of Executive Order No. 292 (Administrative Code of 1987).
EO 475 cites Section 31, Chapter 10, Title III, Book III of EO 292, granting the President continuing authority to reorganize the Office of the President by transferring any agency or function to the Office of the President.
Section 1 provides that the PCG is transferred from the Philippine Navy, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of National Defense to the Office of the President.
The PCG shall continue to be primarily responsible for the promotion of safety of life at sea and the protection of the marine environment under RA 5173 and related laws cited in EO 475 (including PD 600, PD 601, PD 602, PD 979, as amended).
The Committee is composed of the DOTC as Chairman, with the Philippine Navy, PCG, Department of Budget and Management, and the Office of the President as members.
EO 475 directs the Committee to recommend the necessary plans and measures to effect the transfer within 30 days from the signing of the EO.
The Committee is to undertake the appropriate inventory and disposition of all PCG properties.
EO 475 includes (inter alia) vessels, watercraft, firearms, armaments, munitions, communications and electronic equipment, vehicles, buildings, real estate, and lighthouses, along with their records.
It provides that appropriations needed to carry out the provisions of EO 475 that are already carried for the PCG at the time of approval shall continue in subsequent annual General Appropriations Acts; thereafter, the PCG shall prepare its own budget as a Key Budgetary Item (KBI).
EO 475 states that PCG uniformed personnel shall continue to receive the same base pay, longevity pay, and other authorized allowances and benefits as authorized for corresponding grades and ranks in the AFP.
EO 475 provides that PCG uniformed personnel shall continue to be covered by PD 1638 (AFP Retirement Law), as amended, until the PCG establishes its own retirement system under a regime and timetable agreed upon by the Committee.
EO 475 repeals or modifies all Executive Orders, rules and regulations, or parts thereof that are contrary to or inconsistent with EO 475.
EO 475 takes effect immediately.
This helps reconcile administrative transfer with statutory/organizational continuity—maintaining the PCG’s functional and structural characterization under the Administrative Code—while changing its administrative control and coordination framework.