A few kilometers away from the famous Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in Palawan lies Ulugan Bay. According to a UNESCO study, it is home to around 15% of the mangrove forests of the Philippines with “extensive natural, biological and economic value.”

Within Ulugan Bay lies Oyster Bay where earlier this year, the Philippine Navy announced that the military would build a more-than-half a billion peso port. This is ostensibly to upgrade its naval base at the bay to accommodate “big vessels” of the navy that were acquired to be a “credible deterrent” to protect our shores. One of these ships is the USCGC Hamilton, now renamed the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, which was transferred to the Philippine Navy as foreign defense assistance from the United States.

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