Gov't to spend P31M for military runway in Pag-Asa island

MANILA, Philippines - Armed Forces chief Eduardo Oban said the government needs to spend P31 million to repair a military runway on Pag-Asa island, which would boost the country's military presence in the disputed Spratlys group of islands near Palawan.

In a radio report, Oban said the government will also allot P8 billion to purchase more naval ships and an additional radio system, which will be deployed to Pag-Asa island.

The military's Western Command has requested for the repair of the old runway, which was never undergone major repair since it was established in the 1970s.

The airfield can accommodate heavy transport aircraft and military planes.

In an earlier report, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said that except for Taiwan and Brunei, other claimant countries have strengthened fortifications in the islets and shoals in the Spratlys Islands.

It said that since 1984, Malaysia has already deployed troops on five islets and on the Malaysian-occupied Swallow Reef, there is now a 1,200-meter runway as well as a naval station in an island known as Layang-Layang, which had been a dive resort for tourists.

The AFP also said in its report that based on surveillance photos taken during routine patrols over the Kalayaan Group, there is a steady Chinese military buildup in the area despite its being a signatory to the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

Latest surveillance photographs taken in 2010 showed different machine gun emplacement as well as additional communications antennae. Naval vessels have also been anchored in Chigua Reef.

Military developments were also monitored in Cuarteron Reef, while Fiery Cross Reef is serving as communications and oceanographic research center.

The report said that Vietnam has also made impressive improvements in their occupied islands, with new communication equipment in Sin Cow (Rurok Island) installed last year. There are also single storey buildings in Allison Reef and in other sites such as Barque Canada Reef, Discovery Great Reef, Petley Reef, Pigeon Reef, and in East Reef.

New buildings have also sprouted in the Namyit Island.

Numerous structures – including bunkers – have also been detected in Central London Reef.

Defenders of Philippine-held territories stand no chance against the firepower of other claimants in the event of a shooting war, the report stated. (report from Philstar.com)