THE Pambansang Lakas ng Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Thursday expressed fear that the construction of a de facto base on Oyster Bay in Palawan will eventually lead to a fishing ban in the province.
The group said the imposition of occasional fishing ban to give way for the construction of military bases has been happening in other areas.
“It is happening now. A fishing ban is occasionally imposed in Oyster Bay because the construction of a ‘mini-Subic’ naval base is going on and the same will apply to other areas where there are plans to build new bases for US military warships and aircraft on or before 2016,” Pamalakaya Vice Chairman Salvador France said.
He said the imposition of a fishing ban to give way to military bases will also take place in Ulugan Bay, Puerto Princesa City, and towns of Brooke’s Point, Macarasmas, Rizal and San Vicente, where the US Marine Corps eyes to put up command posts.
These areas are near the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
“One day the people of Palawan will wake up to find that fishing all over the province is banned and the entire island province has been transformed into a virtual military base similar to the US military base in Okinawa, Japan. The clear and present danger is there and this will happen anytime between today and 2016,” France said.
Small fishermen, including those in the commercial fishing sector, are banned from fishing near Oyster Bay as construction of the 12-kilometer access road to the area started, the group said.
According to a Philippine Marine Corps official, the plan is to station 50 to 60 US marines in Palawan as an advance detachment at the South China Sea. Aside from transforming Oyster Bay into a mini-Subic naval base, the US also wants to convert the 246-hectare Philippine Marine Corps reservation in Samariniana in Brooke’s Point into a a joint marine operational command. France also learned that aside from Samariniana and Oyster Bay, the US will also develop Ulugan Bay, Macarascas, Puerto Princesa and Tarumpitao Point in Rizal and San Vicente into US command posts.
Pamalakaya earlier asked Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to investigate the construction of US military bases in Palawan.
In its letter of appeal to de Lima, the group asked for a full-blown investigation on the reported plan of the government to construct a de facto US base on Oyster Bay.
The naval base in Palawan, Navy officials said, will enhance the external defense capability of the Armed Forces in the face of the perpetual tension between the Philippines and China.The group said the project aims to increase US military presence in the Philippines on a rotational basis.
It argued that the mini-Subic naval base is designed to host military warships of Washington not only to check the disturbing presence of Chinese military in South China Sea but to preserve the military hegemony of the US in East Asia and the Pacific.
The group said the construction of a naval base on Oyster Bay and the setting up of command posts in different parts of Palawan are in gross violation of the 1987 Constitution that strictly prohibits foreign military bases in the country.
As noted in my comments to previous posts, PAMALAKAYA is a Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) front organization active in the fishing sector. In the past, the group has routinely participated in CPP-associated anti-US military propaganda efforts and continues to do in this current campaign over the projected construction of a Philippine military facility in Palawan that could be used to host US military ship visits or support RP-US military exercises.
ReplyDeleteThe fear-based propaganda themes articulated in the article above, take a different tack than the sovereignty-oriented themes observed in past propaganda output. Apparently, the commies think that if that can't persuade Filipinos to oppose the military facility in Palawan then they will attempt to scare them into opposing the base. Like all good propaganda, there is a kernel of truth in the PAMALAKAYA themes/messages but that is mixed with much speculation, distortion, and outright lies. But this is characteristic of all most all CPP front group-affiliated propaganda activity.
One of PAMALAKAYA'S objectives appears to be to stir up local opposition to any proposed military facility among those engaged in small-scale fishing on the island of Palawan. I would expect other CPP front groups to follow suit.