President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has issued Executive Order (EO) No. 57, creating the National Maritime Council (NMC) to bolster the Philippines’ maritime security and enhance maritime domain awareness in light of China’s aggressive maneuvers and threats in the West Philippine Sea.
EO 57 emphasized the critical need to fortify maritime security and heighten awareness of the maritime domain amidst “a range of serious challenges” that jeopardize not only the country’s territorial integrity but also the peaceful existence of Filipinos.
“Strengthening the country’s maritime security and domain awareness is imperative to comprehensively tackle the crosscutting issues that impact the nation’s national security, sovereignty, sovereign rights, and maritime jurisdiction over its extensive maritime zones,” Marcos stated.
Under EO 57, the National Coast Watch Council (NCWC) has been renamed and reorganized as the NMC.
The council is tasked with formulating policies and strategies to ensure a unified, coordinated, and effective governance framework for the country’s maritime security and domain awareness, among other powers and functions.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin chairs the NMC, with members including the Secretaries of various departments such as National Defense, Agriculture, Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, and the National Security Adviser.
The Secretaries of Finance, Interior and Local Government, and Transportation, as well as the Solicitor General and the Director General of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, are also part of the council.
The NCWC Secretariat has been renamed as the Presidential Office for Maritime Concerns (POMC), tasked with providing consultative, research, administrative, and technical services to the NMC and ensuring the efficient implementation of council policies.
Presidential Assistant for Maritime Concerns, Andres Centino, leads the POMC and is responsible for directly reporting critical and urgent matters affecting the country’s maritime security and domain awareness to the President.
Under the EO, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), created to coordinate and operationalize the capabilities of different agencies for unified actions in the WPS, will be attached to the NMC and receive policy guidance from the President through the council.
Marcos issued the EO in the wake of the recent water cannon attack by the Chinese Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia on a Philippine supply vessel in Ayungin Shoal, which resulted in heavy damage to the ship and injuries to three Filipino crew members.
