There is a world of difference between the roles of a civilian agency and those of a military command. No civilian agency or military command should be doing the role of the other, lest they overlap, conflict, or render redundant their authority.

The role of the Philippine Coast Guard is a good subject for legislative review — whether it fulfills a purely civilian function or a purely military one. The fact that it's an attached agency of the Department of Transportation as much as an attached service of the Department of National Defense "confers" upon it a dualism that may be at cross purposes.

While the PCG can fit either role, it shouldn't. For in so doing, the line between maritime law enforcement and national defense is blurred.  One may be led to think that, perforce, the PCG is unadulteratedly a military organization as it used to be part of the Philippine Navy, a major branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Something explains this duality, but it may require assessment as to whether it must continue to have this dual character. In principle, any individual or unit that performs a task or mandate that essentially belongs solely to the military must forthwith be under a military commander or military organization.

Who can even begin to fathom what it means when the Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard reports directly to the Transportation Secretary in the enforcement of maritime law, but also reports to the Defense Secretary if not the President in wartime? If one should take a cursory look at those who served as commandants of the PCG since its founding in 1967 under different presidents, one would find, viz.:

1) During Rodrigo Duterte's term, only three served for over a year, while four served for less than a year, and one for only 18 days;

2) Under Benigno Aquino, four barely completed a year, one just a year, and one more than two years;

3) Under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, three served for barely a year, two served over two years or so;

4) Under Joseph Estrada, one served for two years;

5) In Fidel Ramos' time, five served for less than a year, one for 32 days, and one for almost three years;