The United States Navy plans to build a boat maintenance facility in Palawan, the US Embassy in the Philippines announced Tuesday.
In a statement, the Embassy said that the US Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command issued a public solicitation on July 7 for the design and construction of the facility, which will be located at the Naval Detachment in Oyster Bay.
“The facility will provide repair and maintenance capabilities for several small Philippine military watercraft and will include two multi-purpose interior rooms suitable for equipment storage or conference use,” it said.
The US embassy clarified that the boat maintenance facility is “not a military base.”
According to the US Embassy, the project was approved by the Philippine government per all applicable local rules and regulations of the two countries.
“Our U.S.-Philippine alliance with its roots in the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty remains a cornerstone of peace and security, promoting our common vision for a free, open, and resilient Indo-Pacific,” it said.
“All of our military activities in the Philippines are done in full coordination with our Philippine allies,” it added.
The planned US military facility will be situated near the West Philippine Sea (WPS), a region marked by ongoing tensions between the Philippines and China.
The WPS encompasses the maritime areas west of the Philippine archipelago, including the Luzon Sea and the waters surrounding, within, and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc.
Last month, US lawmakers were evaluating the possibility of establishing an ammunition production and storage facility at Subic Bay, citing the “lack of forward-staged ammunition manufacturing” in the Indo-Pacific Region.
