WHEN Philippine Coast Guard inspectors boarded ships a few years ago, their job ostensibly was to check the seaworthiness of vessels. But they had another task as well-looking for subversives on board.

That may be an odd addition to the duties of the safety agency, but such tasks reflect how confused its identity has become.

More than 20 years after the Coast Guard was created, it remains a far cry from the independent, professional institution that safety experts originally envisioned it to be.

As the shipping industry deregulates, the importance of ensuring safety and service standards mounts.

But critics say that because of congressional neglect, executive penny-pinching and a confused regulatory framework, the Coast Guard has remained an ineffective and lackluster institution with a limited ability to ensure safety at sea.

"Until such time that we have a professional agency or surveyor, we can not even talk about safety," says Capt. Victorino Basco, a former Marina administrator and now a ship owner.

The Coast Guard is the sole government agency that checks vessels for seaworthiness.

But Basco describes what often happens when Coast Guard inspectors check a vessel. "You probably have an enlisted man with no college education assigned to Manila to inspect ships. Most of these people have no experience in boarding and inspecting a commercial vessel. Everything to them is strange. What kind of results can you expect from this service?"

Because he knows little, the inspector will probably approve the vessel for sailing even if it is not ship-shape, or worse, hold it back even if it is, until he gets some sort of bribe, Basco says. Although not all inspectors or officers are corrupt or incompetent, the organizational links of the agency has hampered its development.

"Most of the time, there are no standards. And even if there are standards, there is hardly anybody who understands these standards," says Basco. "So what has been happening all these years is that ship owners have been left to determine the safety standards they want to impose on themselves," he says.

Thousands of vessels are inspected each year by the Coast Guard. Passenger ships are inspected annually while cargo vessels are checked every two years.

In the district that covers Manila, about 10 to 20 vessels of varying sizes are scheduled for their annual or biennial inspection each day, says Engineer Jacinto Lazo.

The Coast Guard says that most of the safety inspectors that conduct the inspection for seaworthiness are engineers. In the district covering Manila, there are nine safety inspectors. But large vessels require not just one inspector but a team, composed of a marine engineer, an electrical engineer and a naval architect. And critics say more than basic training is needed for a thorough inspection.

In doing its job, the Coast Guard acknowledges that it does not have the sophisticated equipment needed to test ships. It depends on outside companies to gauge, for example, the thickness of metal plates of shipliners.

Basco blames Congress for the failure of the Coast Guard to develop into an independent and professional regulatory agency on sea safety.

In 1967, Congress decided to create the Coast Guard to implement safety rules at sea. But because of lack of funds, the legislature decided to tack on the safety agency to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, under the Philippine Navy.

The arrangement was meant to be temporary, but it has never been corrected by Congress, says Basco. This has had an impact on the professional development of the agency and has hampered its funding.

"The irony is that our planners considered a navy career similar to a Coast Guard career," says PCG Commodore Carlos Agustin. "This is wrong. The Coast Guard deals with civilians and issues of safety, it is not preparing for warfare."

Agustin has led efforts to separate the agency from the AFP. "If we are under the navy, the PCG is only one-twentieth the career of a navy officer. So what happens is the Coast Guard is not able to develop the professional competence of its personnel in the five areas where the Coast Guard is supposed to be experts in."

These areas of expertise are maritime safety administration, navigational safety, marine pollution, merchant marine personnel administration and other marine operations outside the navy.

After five or six years, Coast Guard officers and enlisted men are assigned to another unit. Often, those among them who have developed expertise or were trained abroad are lost to the Coast Guard.

Agustin says that officers and men must be assigned to the Coast Guard on a more permanent basis so that intensive training can take place. "There should be some sort of a career path. Right now, it is not well-planned, unlike in the Marines, where they identify people who are supposed to be in the Marines."

Agustin says the defense ministry has already agreed in principle to allow the Coast Guard to separate from the military. But Congress has to enact a law that will create an independent agency organized under the Department of Transportation and Communication, as advocated by many in the shipping industry.

Such an independent agency will have a better chance of cleaning its ranks, Agustin says. The PCG commodore admits that collusion among corrupt inspectors and ship owners take place, and that no corrupt Coast Guard personnel has ever been dismissed.

Agustin says the agency has tried to remove scalawags from the service, but erring personnel escape dismissal by transferring to another group in the military.

He cites the most recent case being investigated involving a vessel that sank. The Coast Guard inspector certified it as brand new and newly built, when it was actually second-hand.

Agustin expects that in this case, as in other past cases, the accused will get away by asking to be transferred to another military unit.

"If we are separate, he can no longer go anywhere," says Agustin. That could send a powerful message to those remaining with the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard's separation will also mean more leverage for a bigger budget. At present, the agency receives very low priority in the military's budget since the military's focus is on defense, not safety, Agustin points out.

The PCG commodore estimates that at least P1 billion is needed-or more than double the current P400 million allocation-to be an effective regulatory agency. Even that is not much to cover costs of fuel, ship maintenance and salaries.

He estimates that a small patrol craft recently acquired by the navy already costs P75 million. If the Coast Guard spent for such a vessel, it would use up about one-fifth of its current PCG budget.

One advantage of Coast Guard autonomy is that loans and grants can easily be tapped to finance equipment and safety improvements. DOTC officials say donors have shied away from giving money to the Coast Guard for fear that it will be used for military aggressions.

Lighthouses that are being built this year, for example, are being funded by loans arranged by the transportation department; the donors refused to channel money to the Coast Guard.

Many navigational aids and improvements are crucial to efforts in improving safety in the country.

A 1991 U.S. Agency for International Development study on the shipping industry estimates that at least one third of the country's 94 sea lanes are hazardous to navigation and must be dredged to prevent accidents.

The Philippine Ports Authority has the nominal responsibility for dredging these lanes, but it has barely kept up with dredging activities for harbors and approaches to harbors, the study noted.

A Japanese study also estimates that the country needs at least 700 lighthouses to illuminate the country's major waterways. But at present, there are only 350, says Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) administrator Paciencio Balbon, Jr.

Fortunately, funding for about 125 new lighthouses has already been obtained. The Japanese government has agreed to provide a P844 million loan to construct 28 lighthouses between Manila and Cebu, while the British government will provide P1.1 billion in loans and grants for 100 lighthouses to be built throughout the country.

"What we're trying to achieve right now is the minimal number of lighthouses, not the ideal," says Balbon. That statement may well apply to efforts to improve the level of safety standards in the country as a whole.