MARIVELES, Bataan- Mayor Jesse Concepcion on Tuesday announced that this municipality is soon to put up a seaborne office and coastal checkpoints not only to check on illegal activities but as tools for disaster preparedness.
The mayor said that these will be in addition to the offices of the Police Maritime Unit and the Philippine Coast Guard sub-station already in place.
The seaborne office will house in part the municipal disaster risk reduction and management office (MDRRMC) complete with boats, rescue workers, paramedics and “Bantay Dagat’ personnel. The checkpoints, number still being studied, will be manned by “Bantay Dagat” and the Coast Guard.
Concepcion said the seaborne office and the coastal checkpoints will look not only after illegal fishing and other illegal activities along the sea but also on oil spill and serve as eyes and ears of the municipality in cases of typhoons and storm surges.
The mayor said it is imperative for the local government unit to have its seashores properly given attention especially during these times that calamities after calamities have befallen the country. “Eleven of our 18 barangays are along the coastlines, so we have to protect our constituents,” Concepcion said.
Portions of Mariveles are adjacent to both Manila Bay and the West Philippine Sea. Corregidor Island is about 14 kilometers away. The town has a population of more than 100,000 people. Concepcion said he has not forgotten the protection of the Mariveles mountain through the deployment of members of the “Bantay Gubat” to augment the police.
Municipal administrator Luis Gonzales said the protection of the mountain and the sea is also part of readying the town for the planned seaport of the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB). Mariveles is home to more than 60 multinational companies operating at the FAB, formerly the Bataan Economic Zone and the Bataan Export Processing Zone.
