Philippine repairs sea outposts

From the Manila Standard (May 27): Philippine repairs sea outposts

The Philippines has begun long-delayed repairs to its crumbling runway in the country’s territory in the disputed Spratly Islands, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative reported.

The renovation in the Philippines’ nine outposts came amid increasing Chinese military reclamation in the disputed Spratly Island.

The AMTI said the commotion was monitored in February 2017 and May 17, 2018, by its satellites which showed minor improvements to facilities on Pagasa Island (Thitu Island) and three other of its post in 2017 until the present.

“In addition to the runway repairs, a comparison of recent imagery with photos from February 2017 shows minor upgrades to facilities on Thitu and three other outposts in the last year,” the AMTI said.

Pag-asa or Thitu Island is the second largest of the Spratly Island chain with an area of about 91 acres.

The country has already occupied or built structures, and raised the flag over the islands of Pag-asa, Lawak, Patag, Likas, Parola, Panata, and Kota.

Meanwhile, acting Supreme Court Chief Justice Antonio Carpio warned Friday warned that Subi Reef (Zamora Reef) could soon see foreign bombers and fighter jets landing on its runway.

The magistrate, a foremost advocate of the Philippines’ claims in the South China Sea, said this is in light of a recent report that the island was now home to a small town with “sports grounds, neat roads, and large civic buildings,” and could possibly host China’s first troops in the area.

Carpio told reporters the presence of military-grade runways, hangars, hardened storage for ammunition, and retractable roofs for anti-cruise missiles in Chinese military installations in the South China Sea all point to the presence of fighter jets and bombers in the near future.

“What will they do with close-in weapons if not to protect valuable aircraft? All military analysts agree that China will bring their fighter jets and bombers,” he said on the sidelines of a special exhibit of the Murillo-Velarde 1734 Map at the Manila Polo Club in Makati City.

The map was among the close to 300 ancient maps the Philippines submitted to the United Nations arbitral tribunal in pursuing its case against China’s expansive claims to the South China Sea.

The Philippines military has also occupied, controlled, and raised the flag over Rizal Reef and Ayungin Shoal.

Some of these were permanently occupied as early as 1970 (Lawak Island); the latest (Ayungin Shoal) in 1995.

The Island is also home to 100 Filipino civilians—just over 12 nautical miles from China’s air and naval base at Subi Reef.

In April 2017, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced the Philippines would be upgrading facilities at the country’s occupied islands and reefs.

“But little work was apparent until now,” the AMTI said.

Satellite imagery from May 17 showed that two barges anchored just off the western edge of the Pagasa Island runway, which reportedly collapsed into the sea years ago.

Grab dredger, consisting of a crane with a clamshell bucket, is also installed on the smaller barge to the west, while the other carries a backhole.

AMTI said there were loose sediment from dredging can be seen in the water around the two barges and freshly-deposited sand is visible along the northern edge of the runway.

“This method of dredging is similar to that used by Vietnam at several of its outposts in recent years,” the US think tank said.

The think tank noted that such repair might be harmful to the marine environment but stressed that China’s suction cutter dredging is more environmentally destructive than the Philippines, destroying thousands of acres of reef from late 2013 to early 2017.

“The coral reef surrounding Thitu makes it impossible for large ships to approach, as evidenced by the rusting hulk of the BRP Lanao del Norte, which ran aground off the northwest edge of the reef in 2004 and is still present,” the Think-tank added.

When repairs to the Thitu runway were previously proposed in 2014 under President Benigno Aquino III’s administration, officials said a channel would need to be dredged to allow larger ships to deliver heavy machinery and construction materials to the island.

The AMTI said it was like that dredging such a channel is still part of the plan under President Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership.

The airstrip at Thitu Island was originally constructed in the 1970s and was the first runway in the Spratly Islands.

It is officially 1,300 meters long, but the real figure is closer to 1,200 due to the collapse of the western end.

That, along with the poor condition of the runway surface, makes landings and takeoffs difficult for Philippine C-130s like the one that carried Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr., then chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to the island in May 2015.

In addition to the start of work on the runway, the AMTI said other upgrades were visible around Thitu.

At least seven new buildings have been constructed in the last year, with four near the residential area on the eastern side of the island, one near the administrative facilities at its center, another along the northern shore, and one at the western end next to the island’s basketball court, which has received a fresh coat of paint.

Lorenzana said in November the country had started building a new beach ramp to more easily bring in supplies, but that site could not be seen in the May 17 imagery due to cloud cover and no new ramp was visible as recently as February.

In addition to the upgrades on Thitu, AMTI before-and-after imagery shows minor upgrades at; Commodore, or Rizal, Reef; Nanshan, or Lawak, Island; and Loaita Cay, also called Panata Island.

A new round-roofed shelter has also been constructed on the eastern side of the small Philippine outpost on Commodore Reef, visible in imagery from May 1 showed.

As of Feb. 20, 2018, an empty field on Nanshan Island has been converted into a helipad.

Images also showed that a small sandbar, an additional hexagonal shelter has joined the modest outpost in Loaita Cay on May 17, 2018.

The Philippines mostly administers Loaita Cay from nearby Loaita, or Kota, Island to the southeast.

“The location of this outpost, which the Philippines calls Panata Island, is often misreported as being on Lankiam Cay, to the east of Loaita Island,” the AMTI said.

While reports suggest Lankiam was once a small sandy cay, it appears to have been washed away, leaving only a submerged reef and a small, shifting sand bar.

“If there was ever a Filipino facility there, it was moved to Loaita Cay and took the name ‘Panata Island’ with it,” the think tank said.

While the other five Spratly outposts of the Philippines such as the Loaita Island, Northeast Cay, West York Island, Flat Island, and Second Thomas Shoal. Where the purposely grounded BRP Sierra Madre serves as a permanent facility, show “no visible upgrades in the last year,” the think tank said.

China has been claiming 90 percent or the whole features and waters of the South China Sea, citing the nine-dash line of its so-called ancient Chinese map.

During the Aquino administration, the two countries had a standoff after Chinese fishermen were caught illegally poaching sea turtles and other endangered species.

The Foreign Affairs Department, then led by DFA chief Albert del Rosario and a legal team, filed an arbitration case against China, requesting the International court to declare Beijing’s excessive claim as illegal and a violation against the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China, however, did not participate and refuse to acknowledge the ruling and continue to reclaim what they think is theirs.

Duterte, when he assumed his office, shifted the country’s alliances from the US to China and agreed to negotiate the issue bilaterally.

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