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THE Philippine military is set to begin improvements on a 1.4 kilometer
airstrip and soldiers barracks on the Philippine-claimed Pag-Asa
(International name: Thitu) Island, in the disputed Spratlys.
Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Pedrito Cadungdong says
that construction was originally scheduled to start in February but
a problem with the contractor set the timetable back a few months.
A P31-million budget has been set aside as early
as last year to rehabilitate portions of the runway eroded by strong
waves. AFP is now making arrangements with the Navy if it can do the
job as soon as possible because of the weather condition.
Hauling materials for the airstrip repair and
improvements on the barracks on Pag-Asa Island will begin in April.
The military cannot wait until the monsoon season begins.
Cadungdong couldn’t provide a timetable when
the actual construction could start, but definitely “we will
improve on (soldiers housing quarters) because housing for Air Force
personnel was quite dilapidated.”
Pag-Asa is part of the Philippine-claimed
Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) in the Spratlys that the Philippines
says is part of its 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
However, a bill pending in the House of
Representatives is proposing to include some islands there as part
of Philippine territory. The bill delineates Philippine territory to
include two land features physically occupied by China and
Vietnam—Fiery Cross Reef and Amboyna Cay
They are among the eight points in the Spratly
chain where the location basepoints for the archipelagic baselines
of the Philippines are designated by House Bill No. 3216.
The other basepoints fall on land features that
are either occupied or are under control of the Philippines Rizal
(Commodore) Reef, Investigator Shoal, Parola Island (North East
Cay), Patag (Flat) Island, Iroquois Reef, Sabina Shoal and
Scarborough Shoal. Scarborough Shoal is not officially part of the
Spratlys island group. However, China’s construction of markers in
the rock formation in the late 1990s and the Philippines subsequent
destruction of these markers were among the lowest points in
bilateral relations between Manila and Beijing.
HB 3216 passed second reading in the House
foreign affairs committee last December. A third and final approval
is required before it is taken up in plenary session by the
240-member House.
The passage of a bill defining the archipelagic
baselines of the country is a requirement under the United Nations
Convention on the Laws of the Sea and could be vital in the
Philippines claim over a portion of the Spratlys.
UNCLOS defines a state’s territorial waters to
cover 12 nautical miles from the defined baselines and provides an
additional 200 nautical miles to its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The EEZ is not considered as internal or
territorial waters of the state, although if would have exclusive
control over the maritime resources that the EEZ covers.
What is notable is that the Spratlys is the
venue of a regional code of conduct prohibiting claimants from
occupying new islands or improving existing structures. The Code
also prohibits claimant-nations from rocking the status quo.
This pact was the result of the diplomatic
hailstorm triggered when China improved a fisherman’s wooden
shelter and a two-story garrison in 1998 in neighboring Mischief
Reef.
Adding land features as part of Philippine
territory and improving structures strengthening soldiers barracks
to a concrete or semi-concrete structure for sure will be viewed as
rocking the status quo by some other claimants.
Not that I am advocating for Philippine
sovereign interests to always be subjugated by foreign or regional
interests.
In the past, the Philippines was more
predisposed to setting aside conflicting claims in favor of
exploiting, or at least maximizing, the potentials of the KIGs rich
maritime resources. That was how Malacańang explained the now
controversial Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) with China and
Vietnam, that critics say virtually surrendered our claim over the
area.
It is refreshing that some of our leaders are
showing more teeth in protecting Philippine interests. This is
another reason to continue hoping that not all of them are out to
sell the country down the drain.
johnnavg@hotmail.com
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