PH eyes building of tourist hotels on Pag-asa Island

In this photograph taken in June 2014, a military personnel stands on the beach on Pag-asa Island which hosts a small Filipino town as well as an airstrip used for civilian and military flights in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China sea. AFP

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is considering the construction of “some hotels” on Pag-asa Island, which forms part of the disputed Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea, for Filipinos who may want to visit it.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana revealed this Tuesday as he reported that the erection of a beaching ramp on Pag-asa Island is currently around 70 percent complete.

The beaching ramp, he said, will pave the way for the construction of the runway and other structures in the island, the Philippines’ biggest outpost in the South China Sea.

“In the future, we will be building structures for our troops there and maybe some hotels for Filipinos who would like to go there as tourists,” Lorenzana said during a press briefing.

The Philippines has established a lone municipality in Pag-asa Island called Kalayaan, which is part of Palawan.

A community of fishermen, and military and police forces are living in the area at present.

READ: PH starts repairs on Pag-asa airstrip

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon also said that the construction of the Kalayaan Shelter Port in Pag-asa Island is already underway.

According to him, the structure will be able to shelter bigger fishing vessels and even Philippine Navy ships.

“We also have in Pag-asa Island our biggest possession and position, the Kalayaan Shelter Port being built by the Department of Transportation. It is almost half-a-billion worth of a project that can afford to later on shelter bigger fishing vessels and even our Coast Guard and fisheries as well as our Navy,” he said. /kga