The enhancement of naval units, equipment, and defense capabilities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) is underway amid ongoing tensions with China in the region, a high-ranking Navy official said Tuesday.
“This means that we are strengthening our naval components of the Western Command and Northern Luzon Command,” Navy spokesperson for WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said in a radio interview.
“Because these commands face the West Philippine Sea, the Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc, and our northern islands,” he added.
Trinidad explained that the overhaul will involve enhancing command and control, upgrading the rank in the table of organization from Commodore to Rear Admiral, and increasing the number of forces.
“And then there will be additional forces in our chief units, the Philippine Marine Corps, and the other naval units assigned to them,” he added.
Trinidad noted that the revamp focuses on the capabilities and not in the numbers of personnel. The concerned units will be transformed into the equivalent of a division in terms of capabilities.
“Let’s say our ships, the new ships that are coming—one new modern ship is more powerful than four old ships,” he said.
Asked about the suggestion of Senator Francis Tolentino to establish a WPS command, Trinidad said it is being discussed.
The West Philippine Sea refers to maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago including Luzon Sea and the waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines against China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea, saying that it had “no legal basis.”