PH upgrading naval base

From the Manila Bulletin (Mar 8): PH upgrading naval base

Palawan Navy Facility Getting P500-M Facelift To Become Home Of Military Ships

The Philippines is to upgrade a navy base facing disputed West Philippines Sea to serve the extra ships being acquired to protect its territory, the military said Thursday.

Navy spokesman Lieutenant Commander Gregory Fabic said the military would build a P500-million ($11.2 million) port at Ulugan Bay, the Philippine military base in Palawan that is nearest to the Spratly Islands.

“We have an ongoing capability upgrade there to house large vessels of the Philippine Navy, including the upcoming large vessels,” said Fabic.

President Benigno Aquino is set to visit the base on May 20, the 116th anniversary of the Philippine Navy, to launch the upgrading, Fabic added. On that date, the Philippine Navy said it is planning to hold its 116th anniversary in that base.

The base on the west coast of Palawan island is the headquarters of naval forces guarding the waters on the west of the archipelago.

Fabic said the Philippine Navy has existing facilities at the Ulugan Bay, but it needs upgrade to become the home of large naval ships.

“So the intention is to showcase the upgrade of that naval station,” he added.

The Navy has acquired two refurbished American Coast Guard frigates in the past two years, and they now lead patrols in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Aside from two Hamilton-Class Cutter BRP Gregorio del Pilar and BRP Ramon Alcaraz, the Philippine government is planning to buy two large frigates as part of the external defense capability upgrade.

Last January, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Emmanuel Bautista announced the navy wants to acquire up to six more to guard the country’s long coastline effectively.

Currently, Fabic said the Navy has no facilities that could house large ships. In most cases, those ships would just dock near commercial ports.

Fabic said the move to hold the Navy anniversary at the Ulugan Bay is not meant to provoke China and other claimant-countries in the Spratylys.

In recent years, the Philippines has been locked in an increasingly tense standoff with China involving disputed reefs and islands in the Spratlys and other areas of the West Philippine Sea.

Under a program designed to improve the capability of one of Asia’s weakest military forces, the Philippines has been acquiring naval vessels to create what the government described as a “credible deterrent” to protect its territorial integrity.

In 2012, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar confronted Chinese ships on Scarborough Shoal, a small outcrop just off the coast of Zamables.

The Chinese eventually gained control of the outcrop after Manila backed down.

However, the Manila government sought UN arbitration to settle the dispute, a move rejected by China.

Last month, the Philippines lodged a protest after the Chinese Coast Guard allegedly attacked Filipino fishermen off the shoal with water cannon on January 27. Beijing rejected the protest.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, including waters near the coasts of its neighbors.

http://www.mb.com.ph/ph-upgrading-naval-base/