Defense chief checks on Navy site near Philippine Rise

Gilberto Teodoro Jr. —LYN RILLON

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Thursday visited a naval detachment in Casiguran town in Aurora province, the military installation nearest to the Philippine (Benham) Rise where two Chinese research vessels were seen lingering earlier this month.

The Department of National Defense (DND) said the naval detachment would increasingly play a role in guarding the country’s eastern seaboard, as the Armed Forces of the Philippines improves its border protection capabilities.

“The naval detachment, constructed and facilitated in cooperation with the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (Apeco), will boost the AFP’s presence in the area and enhance security in the Philippine Rise and Philippine Sea in line with the country’s Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC),” the DND said.

READ: Who benefits from research in PH Rise?

Completed in March 2022, the site covers about 5,000 square meters, with its main building housing a radio room and an armory.

Planned structures

The DND said Teodoro met with Director Maria Cristina Suaverdez of the Apeco Board of Directors and officers of the Naval Installations and Facilities-Northern Luzon “to discuss continuing efforts to guarantee the country’s control over the resources in the Philippine Rise.”

In 2017, then Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the government wanted to put up permanent structures at Philippine Rise, which could serve as a landing pad or a place for marine biologists who wish to study the area.

In August last year, Teodoro said there was a plan to build a naval outpost in the coastal town of Divilacan, Isabela, to guard the Philippine Rise.

‘Great concern’

Earlier this month, American maritime expert Ray Powell reported that two Chinese research vessels “are loitering” east of Luzon in the northeast corner of Philippine Rise, which is within Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The sighting was also confirmed by Lt. Gen. Fernyl Buca, chief of the Northern Luzon Command which has jurisdiction over Philippine Rise.

On March 6, President Marcos said the reported presence of Chinese research vessels at the Philippine Rise was of “great concern” for being “a clear intrusion into our Philippine maritime territory.”

Teodoro earlier said that the DND and the AFP had started implementing the CADC as a new defense strategy.

“In plain language, we are developing our capability to protect and secure our entire territory and exclusive economic zone in order to ensure that our people and all the generations of Filipinos to come shall freely reap and enjoy the bounties of the natural resources that are rightfully ours within our domain,” he said.

In January, Teodoro said the new defense concept involved projecting “our power into areas where we must, by constitutional fiat and duty, protect and preserve our resources.” INQ