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Manila, March 17, 2017 (Reuters/NAN) The Philippines said on Friday in Manila that it would strengthen its military facilities on islands and shoals in the disputed South China Sea.
It also announced initial plans to build a new port and pave an existing rough airstrip.
Defence Minister Delfin Lorenzana had been scheduled to inspect an outpost on Thitu, one of the disputed Spratly Islands, but his trip was cancelled because of “safety issues’’.
He spent the day instead at a military base where he unveiled the development plans.
“We will build a runway, a port, and a pier for our ships on Thitu, we are a bit blind in that area,” Lorenzana told troops at the Western Command’s 41st anniversary.
Thitu is close to Subi Reef, one of seven manmade islands in the Spratlys that China is accused of militarising with surface-to-air missiles and other armaments.
The Philippines has squabbled with China for years over the South China Sea.
However, the relations appeared to had improved under President Rodrigo Duterte, who was scheduled to meet Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang in Davao City in the southern Philippines.
The minister said Duterte had given approval to upgrade facilities not only on Thitu, but on the eight other features in the South China Sea it occupies.
Defence Ministry Spokesman, Arsenio Andolong said landing on a porous runway on Thitu after heavy rains would have been dangerous.
A senior Philippine general said, however, the military also blocked a planned trip by a group of lawmakers to Thitu on Thursday, more because of concern over how China would react.
“That is a contested area that is not 100 per cent ours,’’ Lt-Gen. Raul Rosario told a congressional on Thursday. (Reuters/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Ese E. Ekama