Policy and Constitutional/Statutory Anchors
- The State policy is to safeguard national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interest, and the right to self-determination.
- The Philippines asserts sovereignty and sovereign rights under Republic Act No. 9522 and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982.
- The maritime security challenges addressed include piracy, armed robbery, terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, trafficking in persons, drugs and firearms trafficking, smuggling, illegal fishing, transnational crimes, national disasters, climate change, and marine environment degradation.
- The Philippine Navy is designated under the Administrative Code of 1987 as the major service of the AFP responsible for naval defense.
- The Philippine Coast Guard is mandated under Republic Act No. 9993 to ensure maritime safety, safety of navigation, enforcement and maintenance of maritime security, prevention or suppression of terrorism at sea, and performance of enforcement functions within Philippine maritime jurisdiction.
National Coast Watch Council: Creation and Meet
- A National Coast Watch Council is established as “the Council,” composed of the following:
- Chairperson: Executive Secretary
- Members: Secretary of Transportation and Communications; Secretary of National Defense; Secretary of Foreign Affairs; Secretary of the Interior and Local Government; Secretary of Justice; Secretary of Energy; Secretary of Finance; Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources; Secretary of Agriculture (Section 2).
- The Council must meet at least twice every year, and at other times the Chairperson may deem necessary or appropriate (Section 2).
Council Powers: Strategy, Coordination, and Rules
- The Council functions as the central inter-agency body in charge of formulating strategic direction and policy guidance for the NCWS (Section 3).
- The Council must:
- Provide strategic direction and policy guidelines for NCWS maritime security operations and multinational and cross-border cooperation on maritime security (Section 3(a)).
- Conduct periodic review of maritime security operations and render periodic reports to the President and the National Security Council (NSC) (Section 3(b)).
- Recommend to the President policies and procedures for managing and securing the country’s maritime domain, and recommend issuance of administrative rules and regulations to enhance maritime security in the Philippines (Section 3(c)).
- Harmonize capability plans and fund requirements relative to maritime security missions (Section 3(d)).
- Harmonize and coordinate the roles and relationships of different government agencies, pursuant to their mandates, relative to the maritime security and governance framework determined by the Council (Section 3(e)).
- Convene or dissolve inter-agency committees and/or working groups as needed to assist the Council (Section 3(f)).
- Exercise overall jurisdiction and direction over policy-formulation, implementation, and coordination with other government agencies, experts and organizations—foreign and local—on maritime issues affecting the country (Section 3(g)).
- Enlist and/or require support and/or assistance of any government department, bureau, or agency in pursuit of the Council’s mandates and functions (Section 3(h)).
- Promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the Council to perform its mandate (Section 3(i)).
- The Chairperson may direct additional functions necessary for the effective discharge of the Council’s mandate, including functions directed by the President (Section 3(j)).
Secretariat and Executive Director Support
- A Coast Watch Council Secretariat is established to provide technical and administrative support to the Council (Section 4).
- The Secretariat must:
- Provide consultative research and administrative services to the Council (Section 4(a)).
- Assist the Council in proposing and reviewing legislative and administrative issuances on maritime security (Section 4(b)).
- Assist inter-agency committees and working groups created by the Council, including administrative, technical, and secretariat support (Section 4(c)).
- Perform other functions and tasks directed by the Council (Section 4(d)).
- The Secretariat is headed by an Executive Director, appointed by the Chairperson upon the recommendation of the Council (Section 4).
- The Council determines the Secretariat’s personnel requirements in accordance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations (Section 4).
National Coast Watch Center: Operations and Coordination
- The National Coast Watch Center (“Center”) implements and coordinates maritime security operations under the strategic direction and policy guidance of the Council (Section 5).
- The Center must:
- Gather, consolidate, synthesize and disseminate information relevant to maritime security (Section 5(a)).
- Develop and maintain effective communications and information systems to enhance inter-agency coordination (Section 5(b)).
- Coordinate maritime surveillance or response operations upon request of a member agency or when an exigency arises (Section 5(c)).
- Plan, coordinate, monitor, evaluate, document and report on maritime security operations (Section 5(d)).
- When authorized by the Council, coordinate cross-border and multinational maritime security cooperation (Section 5(e)).
- Coordinate support for the prosecution of apprehended violators (Section 5(f)).
- Develop a common operating picture to enhance maritime situational awareness (Section 5(g)).
- Conduct periodic assessments on maritime security (Section 5(h)).
- When authorized by the Council and in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs, initiate cross-border and multinational maritime security cooperation (Section 5(i)).
- Perform other functions as directed by the Council (Section 5(j)).
- The Center is established in and headed by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) (Section 5).
Support Agencies and Agency Coordination
- The following agencies provide manpower, equipment and material support to the Center and its operations subject to rules and regulations promulgated by the Council (Section 6):
- Philippine Navy (Section 6(a))
- Philippine Coast Guard (Section 6(b))
- Philippine National Police Maritime Group (Section 6(c))
- National Prosecution Service of the Department of Justice (Section 6(d))
- Bureau of Customs (Section 6(e))
- Bureau of Immigration (Section 6(f))
- National Bureau of Investigation (Section 6(g))
- Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (Section 6(h))
- Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (Section 6(i))
- The roles and responsibilities of each support agency in maritime security and enforcement operations are set out in the rules and regulations promulgated by the Council (Section 6).
- All other government agencies are directed to actively coordinate and cooperate with the Council and support maritime security operations of the government (Section 6).
- The Chairperson may call upon heads of government agencies for assistance as necessary (Section 6).
Reorganization, Non-Diminution, and Reports
- The Commission on Maritime and Ocean Affairs (CMOA) created under Executive Order No. 612 (s. 2007), as amended, is abolished (Section 7).
- The mandate and functions of the CMOA are performed by the Council (Section 7).
- Nothing in the Executive Order diminishes the mandates, functions, and responsibilities of support agencies except under Section 7 (Section 8).
- The Council must submit a report to the President within ninety (90) days from the issuance of the Executive Order on its implementation (Section 11).
- The Council must submit annual reports to the President on the operations of both the Council and the Center thereafter (Section 11).
Funding, Assistance, Donations, and Effectivity
- The initial funding requirement of Twenty Million Pesos (Php 20,000,000.00) is sourced from the Special Account in the General Fund (SAGF) of the Department of Energy under Fund 151, to be released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) subject to:
- Bureau of Treasury (BTr) Certification on the availability of deposited collections with the SAGF of the DOE; and
- compliance with existing laws and the usual government budgetary, accounting and auditing rules and regulations (Section 9).
- Thereafter, appropriations for succeeding fiscal years are incorporated in the General Appropriations Act (Section 9).
- The Council and the Center are authorized to accept donations, contributions, grants, bequests or gifts from domestic or foreign sources for purposes relevant to their mandates and functions, in accordance with applicable laws and rules and subject to government accounting and auditing rules and regulations (Section 10).
- The Executive Order takes effect immediately upon publication in a newspaper of general circulation (Section 14).
Separability and Revocation Rules
- If any provision is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions unaffected remain valid and subsisting (Section 12).
- With the exception of Proclamation No. 72 (s. 2001) and subject to Section 3, all issuances, rules, and regulations—or parts thereof—inconsistent with the Executive Order are revoked, amended, or modified accordingly (Section 13).