Airstrip repair on Pagasa island ‘a go’ despite China protest –PAF

The planned repair of the Rancudo airstrip on the Philippine-occupied Pagasa island in disputed waters “is a go” despite China's protest, Philippine Air Force officials said Wednesday.

“So far it is a go,” Maj. Gen. Edgar Fallorina, the Chief of Air Staff, told a forum in Villamor Air Base.

Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Delgado said funds have already been allotted for the repair of the1.4-kilometer unconcretized airstrip.

“The bottom line is we need to repair that,” he said in the same forum.

PAF spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Canaya said the airstrip has to be repaired for safety purposes, as portions of its runway have eroded.

“Aircraft can still land but for safety purposes, the runway should be complete,” said Canaya.

Fallorina said the repair of the Rancudo airstrip will involve two stages — the dredging of an anchorage area to allow the entry of vessels with construction materials needed, and the actual repair itself.

The Department of National Defense has already awarded the contract for the project’s first stage, Fallorina said. He did not say the status of the second stage.

“Hopefully, it will be finished this year,” said Fallorina, referring to the project's first stage.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying has earlier complained against the Philippine government’s construction of a supposed “world-class” airport at the Pagasa island in the disputed West Philippine Sea, a part of the vast South China Sea that Manila claims.

China claims almost 90 percent of the South China Sea, a major sea route where oil and gas deposits have been discovered in several areas. Manila has adopted the name West Philippine Sea for areas in the South China Sea that fall within its sovereign jurisdiction.

The Philippines recently revealed that China is engaged in construction activities and reclamation of at least five disputed areas. These features, Philippine officials say, fall within the country’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone.

Alarmed with what it calls China’s expansionist moves in the South China Sea, Manila sued Beijing before a Netherlands-based tribunal operating under a United Nations convention, to try to declare as illegal its massive claim. The case was rejected by China. —KBK, GMA News