DEFENSE SECRETARY Delfin N. Lorenzana agrees with the position of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin L. Jr. that the government should protest the “rescue center” built by China in the West Philippine Sea.
“I think I agree with the secretary of Foreign Affairs that we should protest, only because we don’t want them to be keeping on building things there so that it will make it permanent, it will become theirs,” said Mr. Lorenzana in a forum at Camp Aguinaldo on Monday, Feb. 4.
“We just protest to let them know that any development that they continue to do there is protested by us because we believe that Mischief Reef, Fiery Cross [Reef] and all those islands that they have built is within our EEZ (exclusive economic zone), is under our EEZ and they belong to us,” he added.
Nonetheless, the Defense chief said that he is hoping that the rescue center will help stranded Filipinos near the area.
The Chinese state media reported last Jan. 31 that China’s Ministry of Transport opened a maritime rescue center in Kagitingan Reef (or Fiery Cross Reef) to better protect navigation and transport safety in the highly-contested sea.
On another matter, Mr. Lorenzana said the rehabilitation of Pagasa Island and the construction of a beaching ramp there are still ongoing.
“Our rehabilitation of Pagasa, it’s ongoing. The building of the beaching ramp to be used by the navy is still ongoing because of rough sea. I think they had last year to do it but they could not do it… The problem with Pagasa is that you have to bring in everything you need for its repair, steel bars, sand, gravel, heavy equipment and you need the beaching ramp to bring these in,” he said.
The ramp is expected to be completed within the first quarter of the year.
Mr. Lorenzana said the government is also planning to build agricultural and biological facilities in Pagasa Island. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR