Lorenzana probing reported plan of Chinese investors to develop PHL strategic islands

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is looking into the reported plan of Chinese investors to develop three strategic islands of the Philippines into economic hubs.

“[I] am investigating through the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines),” Lorenzana said in a message sent to GMA News Online late Tuesday night.

The Philippine Navy has expressed concern over the reported plan to develop the islands of Fuga, Grande and Chiquita, noting that the plan has maritime and security implications.

Navy spokesman Captain Jonathan Zata said security forces must have access to the strategic islands once the plan to develop them would push through.

According to Zata, Fuga Island houses some telecommunications cables while the islands of Grande and Chiquita were previously utilized as a “defense perimeter of the Americans” in the 1990s.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Tuesday warned that plans by the government to allow Chinese investors to develop three tiny but strategic islands could "compromise" the country's security.

AFP spokesperson Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo said Tuesday the government should study the security implications of handing over the islands to foreign entities.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that President Rodrigo Duterte was aware of proposals for Grande and Chiquita islands at the mouth of Subic Bay, as well as the isolated northern island of Fuga in the Babuyan archipelago, but would not elaborate. —KG, GMA News