Presdent Rodrigo Duterte will visit Pagasa Island, the second largest of the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea before his term ends, to assert Philippine sovereignty over it and to visit the people and soldiers who live there, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Friday.
“The way I see it, there will come a time when the President will go to Pagasa Island,” Roque said in Filipino. “His visit to Pagasa is evidence of our sovereignty,” he said. “If he does not do this now, I think he will do so before his term ends.”
Earlier, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana was reported as saying Duterte would make a trip to Pag-asa Island although no final date has been set.
The President has come under attack ever since he promised during his presidential campaign to ride a jet ski to the Spratlys and to plant the Philippine flag there. Since he came to office, however, he has been accommodating to the Chinese, who have built military installations on territory claimed by the Philippines.
On Tuesday, in Duterte’s place, his son Sebastian and Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go rode jet skis along Casiguran Bay in Aurora to celebrate the first anniversary of his renaming the underwater plateau from Benham Rise to Philippine Rise.
Pag-asa or Thitu Island is the second-largest of the Spratly Island chain with an area of about 91 acres.
The country has already occupied or built structures, and raised the flag over the islands of Pag-asa, Lawak, Patag, Likas, Parola, Panata, and Kota.
The military has also occupied, controlled, and raised the flag over Rizal Reef and Ayungin Shoal. Some of these were permanently occupied as early as 1970 (Lawak Island). The latest was Ayungin Shoal in 1995.
Over the past years, China has claimed some of the features of the disputed South China Sea, particularly the Philippine-owned-reefs-turned-islands in the Kalayaan Group of Islands (Spratlys) where Beijing has installed weapon systems.
China’a activities over the disputed sea became more visible when the Philippines filed a case before the Arbitral Tribunal, which eventually ruled in favor of Manila, declaring Beijing’s 9-dash line claims as excessive and illegal.
The Philippines has won the arbitration case against China on July 12, 2016.
China has refused to recognize the tribunal or its decision, however.