What happened to the Philippine government’s plan to build a P450-million seaport on Pag-asa Island?
Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza, the House senior deputy minority leader, raised this question Wednesday amid the growing presence of Chinese maritime militia vessels around Pag-asa, which has been occupied by the Philippines since 1970.
Atienza said in the 2017 General Appropriations Act, Congress gave P450 million in capital outlay to the Department of Transportation for the Barangay Pag-asa Port Project.
“We hope the DOTr is still pushing through with the project, which has become absolutely imperative for us to encourage more Filipinos to live on the remote island,” Atienza said.
“Now would be an excellent time for the DOTr to carry out the project, considering that the military is set to complete the construction of a beaching ramp on the island,” Atienza said.
The beaching ramp being built by the Department of National Defense is meant to expedite the delivery of construction equipment and materials after President Rodrigo Duterte in April 2017 ordered the reinforcement of Pag-asa.
The DND is initially focusing its efforts on paving the island’s crumbling 1.3-kilometer airstrip.
Located 518 kilometers northwest of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Pag-asa is a low-lying land mass surrounded by shallow coral ranges.
Pag-asa belongs to the Kalayaan Island Group at the western section of the Spratly archipelago.
The entire Spratly archipelago is being claimed by China.
However, a tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in July 2016 that Philippine territories in the West Philippine Sea could not be overlapped by any possible entitlement of China.
President Ferdinand Marcos established by presidential decree in 1978 the Municipality of Kalayaan over the Kalayaan Island Group under the Province of Palawan.
Pag-asa is the lone barangay of Kalayaan, the country’s smallest municipality.
At present, Pag-asa has less than 400 residents, mostly fishermen and their families. It also has a one-classroom primary school and a five-bed clinic.
The island is now being guarded by a military detachment led by an officer with the rank of lieutenant.
The Philippine Navy also has the Naval Station Emilio Liwanag on the island.
The government used to run Pag-asa purely as a military installation until civilians were allowed to settle in.