Ten personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard were relieved from their posts for asking money from new recruits reaching as much as P150,000.

In a radio interview, PCG spokesperson, Rear Admiral Armand Balilo said the involved personnel of its regional training center were already moved to other units.

"Ten lang iyong relieved pending investigation. The rest reassigned sa ibang units," he said.

He said the mess was discovered when trainees reached them to know if the added fees were legitimate.

"Noong malaman ito ni PCG commandant Admiral Artemio Abu three weeks ago ay ni-relieve po lahat ng tauhan ng regional training center at subject of investigation ngayon," Balilo said.

According to Balilo, no fees are being collected from trainees, as the training for the PCG is free of charge, and every new recruit has a P43,000 allotment from the government.

Balilo said the amount being collected by the erring PCG personnel from trainees will be used for extra uniforms, which according to Balilo, are all overcharged.

Balilo revealed that victims even lent money from lending institutions to be able to pay the personnel.

Aside from unscrupulous personnel, Balilo said fixers are also victimizing new recruits.

He said there are suspects that are already collared for the said modus operandi.

As of last month, the PCG has approximately 30,000 personnel.