The government’s initiative to build lighthouses in the country’s territory in the West Philippine Sea is in line with the Declaration of Conduct signed with other claimant states, according to the country’s security adviser.
National Security Adviser Hermogenes C. Esperon Jr. said the construction of lighthouses in Pag-asa Island will be complemented by the planned development of the runway in the territory, which is being disputed by China.
“Well, as a matter of safety of life at sea…we are also putting up lighthouses,” Esperon said, adding the project should help fishermen and other mariners in the area in their navigation.
Esperon said the lighthouses were among the projects the government has lined up to undertake in Pag-asa Island, including the upgrading of the Rancudo Airfield to stimulate the territory’s commercial development.
The improvement projects were covered by the P1.6-billion budget earmarked by the government for the development of the island, which was announced by Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana during his visit to Pag-asa Island last year.
As envisioned, the funds should help turn the island into a tourist destination and a marine research facility by creating beaching facilities, a radio station, a power plant and even an ice plant.
Esperon said the lighthouses, the likes of which China has already put up in the territories that it disputes but already occupied and developed, should make Pag-asa Island easier to navigate for fishermen and other seafarers.
The national security adviser said the project would go along with the rehabilitation of the airfield after the government has completed the development of a beaching ramp in the island.
A recent report by the Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative of the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, however, claimed the repair of the runway has already began, citing satellite photos of the island.
It also said the photos showed seven new buildings in Pag-asa Island, but which the government, and even Esperon, did not confirm.
However, part of the P1.6-billion budget will be used for the improvement of shelters of soldiers deployed in Pag-asa Island, a much- delayed project since all of the other claimant states have not only improved, but even constructed concrete buildings as shelters for their troops deployed in territories that they have occupied.