AFP starts Spratlys rehab with P31-M runway makeover

MANILA, Philippines—The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has allocated P31 million to repair the dilapidated runway on Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island within the disputed Spratlys chain of islands in the South China Sea.

“That’s a standing order. We are going to undertake the rehabilitation of the runway as soon as possible. We need to address this immediately. As a matter of fact we have allotted P31 million for the repairs,” AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo Monday.

Oban also said they are preparing a list of naval and aerial patrol assets and radar equipment to be bought with the P8 billion earlier earmarked by President Benigno Aquino III to upgrade military facilities in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) which is claimed by the Philippines.

The KIG is within the Spratlys chain of islands which is claimed wholly and partly by the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

Kalayaan is considered a municipality of Palawan province.

Its biggest island, Pag-asa, has an airstrip and basic facilities for the group of soldiers stationed on it who get by with a monthly delivery of supplies. But the airstrip has been long neglected and can no longer be used.

“We shall continue our presence in the area, particularly in the protection of our resources,” Oban said.

“This has been our clamor in the past, to develop our capability particularly in the protection of our maritime resources. Now that our capability for internal security operations has leveled up, we have plans for transition purposely for the protection of our resources,” he added.

Oban said the P8 billion allocated by the President would go to the “initial development for our capabilities to have more presence in Palawan.”

“The advice given us is to come up with a list and submit it to the cognizant agencies,” he said.

“We are prepared for the list of equipage that would address (our needs). We will immediately give the list of equipment that can be covered by the amount available. Our mandate is to protect our interest,” Oban stressed.

On March 2, two Chinese patrol ships harassed a Department of Energy oil exploration vessel at Reed Bank, some 250 kilometers west of Palawan and which is part of the Kalayaan islands group.

Military reports said the Chinese patrol boats voluntarily left when two aircraft from the Navy and the Air Force arrived in the area and that no skirmishes occurred.

In Puerto Princesa City, the Western Command (Wescom), which has jurisdiction over the Philippines’ territorial claims in the Spratlys, is set to deploy before yearend new military hardware, including an advanced early warning system that will cover the country’s entire western flank and an ultramodern naval ship with an attack helicopter.

“Wescom will be the first priority in the entire command of the armed forces to be modernized,” said Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, Wescom chief, in a media forum last weekend.

Lt. Col. Neil Estrella, Wescom spokesperson, said the total budget for the modernization would be P8 billion in three years.

A fully refurbished Hamilton-class cutter previously owned by the US Coast Guard is expected to arrive in the third quarter of the year from the United States.

Sabban said the vessel comes with advanced tactical weaponry and can support a helicopter deployment.

The Philippine Coast Guard crew that would man the cutter have been completing their training in the United States, he said.

Sabban said the unit will be deployed in Palawan with the Philippine Navy.