Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez’s plan to develop the 37.2-hectare Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea at a cost of P3 billion has drawn the support of Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel.
“The Speaker’s plan to upgrade Pag-asa’s airfield, wharf and boat shelter port reinforces our proposal to establish the island as a tourist attraction,” Pimentel said.
“Pag-asa is surrounded by rich marine life, making it ideal for diving and fishing for leisure, exercise, or competition,” he added.
In November 2033, Pimentel filed House Bill No. 6228 seeking to declare Pag-asa as a recreational fishing and dive spot under the National Tourism Development Plan.
“Pag-asa is a case of if we build enough structures, tourists will come,” Pimentel emphasized.
The largest landmass of the Kalayaan Island Group, Pag-asa is situated 508 kilometers northwest of Puerto Princesa City in Palawan.
Depending on the type of Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) aircraft used, a flight from Puerto Princesa to Pag-asa would take one and a half to two and a half hours.
Romualdez recently visited Pag-asa and vowed to mobilize at least P3 billion in new funding to develop the island’s infrastructure.
He said the entire Kalayaan islands, which have a combined land area of around 79 hectares, could potentially become the Maldives of the Philippines.
The Kalayaan islands included Ayungin Shoal, where the Philippine Marines has deployed a permanent outpost on the stranded tank landing ship BRP Sierra Madre, amid China’s highly aggressive reclamation activities in the unoccupied reefs of the larger Spratly archipelago.
The Municipality of Kalayaan was created over the Kalayaan islands by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1596 issued by the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1978.
The Kalayaan municipal government is based in Pag-asa, which is also the town’s lone barangay.
A fifth-class municipality, Kalayaan is the least populated town in the Philippines, with only 193 residents who all live on Pag-asa, according to the 2020 census.