A PHP1.4-billion training facility that will be known as the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Academy will rise in Albay province, Coast Guard District Bicol Commander Philipps Soria said on Tuesday.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum, Soria said the PCG has secured a 15-hectare lot in Bacacay town where the training facility will be constructed.

“We already requested the Special Allotment Release Order from the Department of Budget and Management for the release of the initial PHP200-million fund to start the PCG training facility. It’s a multi-year project. Now we call it a training facility until such time we develop it as an academy,” Soria said.

He said if the release of the budget would not be hampered, the facility would be completed in five to seven years.

He said they want to pattern it after the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in Baguio City and the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) in Cavite.

“Hopefully, the PCG Academy will be here in Albay,” he said.

Soria said with the completion of the project, the training facility of PCG in Bataan will be transferred to Albay to produce 300 to 400 officers per year.

He thanked the local government of Bacacay and Ako Bicol Party-List Rep. Elizaldy Co for their continued support for this infrastructure project, along with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Public Works and Highways.

“This project will have a very good impact in terms of recruitment. For now, if you want to be a PCG officer, you must be a college graduate and a holder of professional or civil service eligibility. With this academy, it will be a four-year course of recruitment just like the PMA and PNPA. It would be from high school graduates, and they will be trained for four years,” Soria noted.

He said more young and qualified students will have opportunities to be part of the scholarship program and serve the PCG. (PNA)