PH plans to develop Pag-asa Island

FILE: Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (Photo: Delfin Lorenzana/Facebook)

The Philippines will soon conduct its rehabilitation plan for Filipino fishermen in Spratlys according to the Secretary of Defense.

Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that apart from aiding the fishermen, it is also part of a bigger rehabilitation plan involving the Kalayaan group of islands which includes Pag-asa Island.

“The developments are to improve the facilities there in Kalayaan Island Group (KIG). First, in Pag-asa, we are going to improve the runway plus the beaching ramp. We’re going to build facilities for our fishermen,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP’s) New Year’s Call yesterday.

According to Lorenzana, the runway is important as it will allow Philippine planes to land “anytime of the day.”

“What’s happening in Pag-asa, we can only land after five days of continuous sunshine. We will improve para (so that) all-weather na we can go there anytime,” he explained.

He said that this will all begin early 2018.

Lorenzana was also optimistic that the Philippine government’s moves will not trigger protests from China.

“I don’t think they will protest because our purpose there is peaceful. It is for our fishermen,” he further said.

In relation to this, he also cited that the Philippines through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has a “good dialogue and communication channel” with Beijing.

“Mukhang nawala na ‘yun kasi nakikipag-usap naman tayo sa kanila (Looks like that is already gone as we are having talks with them),” he said referring to the sour relationship of the Philippines and China over the disputed islands.

However, Lorenzana earlier said that the Philippines will file a diplomatic protest to China over the said country’s militarization of some of its reclaimed islands.

(Read: PH to file diplomatic protest vs China reef militarization)

It can be recalled that China had a protest earlier when Lorenzana and other military officials visited Pag-asa Island in April last year.

A China-related complaint also prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to stop military operations of constructing nipa huts that were supposed to serve as temporary shelters for fishermen in Sandy Cay, in August last year.