Philippines to Fortify Airstrip, Troop Quarters in Spratlys
By TERESA CEROJANO / AP WRITER / MANILA
Friday, March 28, 2008


The Philippines will soon expand an existing airstrip on an island in the disputed Spratlys and fortify quarters for troops stationed there, the air force chief said Friday.

The Spratlys, believed to be rich in oil, gas and fish stocks, consist of about 100 barren islets, reefs and atolls dotting the world's busiest shipping lanes in the South China Sea. Vietnam, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each claim all or part of the low-lying islands.

Lt-Gen Pedrito Cadungog said Friday that navy ships would start hauling building materials to Pag-asa island next month.

He said the island's runway will be lengthened and eroded portions repaired for the safety of military C-130 planes. Dilapidated troop quarters will be repaired and bolstered.

Cadungog said the work should not be compared to China's occupation in 1995 of Philippine-claimed Mischief Reef, where Beijing built concrete structures that it said were shelters for fishermen.

That incident raised tensions in the region and was protested by the Philippines.

"It's not part of occupying an island and building a fortress," Cadungog told reporters. "That island (Pag-asa) is ours from the beginning."

He said the air force signed a contract with a private contractor for the work and it was supposed to start last month, but the contractor backed out at the last minute.

There is little time for new bidding on the project, and if weather permits, the armed forces will do the work itself starting next month, he added.

A visit last month by then-Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian to an island in the Spratly chain claimed by Taiwan sparked protests from Vietnam and the Philippines.

Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, the Philippine armed forces chief, said Monday that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo plans to visit the Philippine-claimed Kalayaan islands, of which Pag-asa is a part. However, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita denied she would go.

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