By Jonathan Dela Cruz
The news that a Washington think-tank has monitored repairs being done on the runway in Pag-asa, the biggest island in the Kalayaan Group of Islands which is under our control within the disputed Spratlys island group, does not come as a surprise. In fact, the runway should not only be repaired. It should be expanded. If possible, the entire KGI itself should be upgraded to accommodate increased civilian and military presence like what the other claimants in the area are doing within their own occupied islands.
As that same think-tank has been broadcasting all along, the People’s Republic of China has been busy reclaiming, expanding and, yes, militarizing its own occupied areas in the Spratlys. This think-tank has been haranguing all other claimants and even non-claimants such as the US and the European Union with this information.
This does not come as a surprise.
After all, Vietnam has been doing the same in its part of that vast maritime area. Taiwan has done the same with Abu Ata, the biggest island in the area. All of them have gone ahead with their own operations ensuring that the islands or islets they already occupy will remain in their hands for as long as necessary. No questions asked.
There is nothing about freedom of navigation and commerce. Not even fishing rights, as all the fishermen of the claimant countries for as long as one can remember were free to fish in the lagoons and byways which formed part of that resource rich area. Not even militarization, until China accelerated its build-up and the US and its Western allies started invoking all kinds of international rules like Unclos which the five permanent members of the UN Security Council routinely violate when doing so suits their purposes.
Indeed, long before China started working on islands or rocks (as some pundits called the islets) in what is known as the Spratlys in the South China Sea in the 1970s, we already had a runway in one of the bigger isles, Pag-asa. In fact, we were already populating the other islets in the group we later called Kalayaan Group of Islands, which was even incorporated and recognized as a municipality of Palawan in the 70s.
I remember then-Senate President Enrile telling me during a congressional break that the late President Ferdinand Marcos instructed the Defense ministry and the Armed Forces at that time to start occupying the areas which can be inhabited and put breakers or mojons within our sea boundaries, including those in the disputed areas, to fortify our claims. The Pag-asa runway was one of the major projects at that time.
There were plans to reclaim and expand the island and the other islets within the group as well as fortify our presence in the Malampaya Sound when it was clear that we were on the verge of a huge oil and gas discovery toward the end of the 70s. We were already on the way—but things did not turn out the way they should have after 1986. So now, we are on a crash catch-up situation. But no matter. We should proceed with all deliberate speed before things get even more problematic than they already are. As one analyst noted, if the US is really bent on helping us defend our part of this disputed area, then we should ask them to help us reclaim, expand and upgrade our holdings in return for possible use of these territories for the annual Balikatan exercises and other joint military exercises with Asean and other friendly countries.
In fact, if the US so desires and if it would really assist us in fortifying our claims, there is no way we can deny the use of the KIG, for example, in implementing the Visiting Forces Agreement which states in part that the US can actually deploy and warehouse equipment in any recognized base within the Philippines.
An expanded and upgraded KIG can very well fit that bill. What are they waiting for?