RP security officials to visit Pagasa Island amid tension with China

(Updated 6:17 p.m.) Philippine security officials are set to inspect Pagasa Island — part of the disputed Kalayaan Group of Islands (KGI) — to look into the possibility of improving the facilities there, a military official said Tuesday. The inspection team, scheduled to leave sometime next week, will be headed by the "hierarchy of the Defense Department," said Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta at a press briefing. "The plan is to inspect …The inspection will be led by the DND (Department of National Defense) hierarchy," said Mabanta, adding that there is no final decision yet regarding the composition of the team. "That is the initial plan, to involve a multi-agency. But there is no specific names and agencies yet," he said, adding that Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo David will be part of the team. Pagasa Island is among the several islands and islets composing the KGI that is occupied by Philippine government forces for the past decades. It is considered as part of Kalayaan town in Palawan province. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said President Benigno Aquino III already knows about the planned trip and that those planning to go there need not get the president's approval. "The President does not need to approve the visit because visiting the commands is one of the regular duties and responsibilities of the SND (Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin)," Lacierda said. The potentially oil and mineral rich KGI, also known as the Spratly Islands, is also being claimed in part or in whole by Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and China, considered as the strongest among the claimant countries as far as military might is concerned. Hostage crisis, Code of Conduct DND spokesman Eduardo Batac said the inspection has nothing to do with the current tension between China and the Philippines resulting from the August 23 hostage tragedy in Manila that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead. Batac said the visit will be purely for ocular inspection of the existing facilities on the island. "It (inspection) is part of the course of assessing the bases of the land, looking into it, and see to if there is a need to fix them, not because we are reacting to anything," he said in a separate interview. For his part, Mabanta insisted the inspection will not be a violation of the status quo being observed by claimant countries since 1999 because it is not considered as a "military endeavor." The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — of which Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam are members — approved a new draft code of conduct in November 1999 requiring rival claimants to refrain "from taking action that would establish presence" in the South China Sea. The code was initiated by the Philippines, which has sought ASEAN support to prevent "Chinese expansionism in the Spratly Islands." Rehabiliation Mabanta said there are plans to renovate the Kalayaan island airport and facilities. He said if the rehabilitation efforts are pursued, these will be undertaken by concerned government agencies rather than the military engineers. "It’s actually a general inspection of existing [facilities], looking at the facilities and the existing situation in the disputed areas," he said. Expected to compose the inspection team are representatives from the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Department of Tourism (DOT). Mabanta said the DOT is included “to see if it (Pag-asa Island) can be turned into a tourist spot." He said the DPWH and the DOTC may be brought to the area because they might be involved in the renovation and possible developments in the area, while DILG presence may be needed because Pag-asa is part of Kalayaan town. — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV