MANILA: Senior Philippine officials announced on Friday that the military would begin construction on an island in the disputed Spratlys in the South China Sea, near an island claimed by China.
Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who led the security officials visiting Pag-Asa Island in the Spratlys, said one of the first structures to be built there was a beaching ramp so navy ships can bring in equipment and materials.
“Once that (beaching ramp) is finished, then the runway repair and lengthening will also follow,” Lorenzana told reporters who accompanied him during the visit.
At present Pag-Asa island’s 1.3-kilometre runway is made from coral, making landing risky, particularly in poor weather conditions.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a key shipping lane that is believed to be rich in marine and mineral resources, and has been expanding and building structures on several man-made islands there.
The moves have turned the sea into a focus of tension regionally and worldwide concerning China’s growing influence.
Lorenzana said they would also be constructing shelters for Filipino fishermen caught in bad weather, an electricity network for military and civilian residents, a desalination plant, a fish port, and an ice plant, among other installations. Construction would cost about 1.6 billion pesos ($32 million), he said.
The two military planes carrying Lorenzana and other top security officials were warned by China to stay away from the area, according to military spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla.
Padilla said the warning appeared to have come from the Chinese base in nearby Subi Reef, which has been turned into an artificial island, and is about 20 nautical miles from Pag-Asa.
But Lorenzana downplayed the incident, saying the warning was part of the “protocol on their (Chinese) part.”
“Every time our aircraft do resupply, they always challenge and weal ways tell them also that we are flying over Philippine territory,” he said.
Last year, an international tribunal court invalidated Beijing’s sweeping claims to the seas in a ruling based on a case filed by the Philippines. Other claimants are Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.
DUTERTE TOURS WARSHIP
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte toured a visiting Russian warship on Friday for the second time in barely four months as he highlighted his growing closeness to Moscow.
“The Russians are with me, I shall not be afraid,” Duterte was quoted as saying during a visit to the Russian guided missile cruiser ‘Varyag’ which is on a port visit to Manila.
Duterte toured the ship, posing for pictures with Russian sailors and in front of the vessel’s huge missile-launchers, on what was the fourth ever port call by a Russian naval ship to the Philippines.
— dpa/AFP
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