Philippine Senate eyes more military outposts for more effective sea patrols

THE PHILIPPINES should set up more naval bases and military outposts to assert its sovereign rights over maritime territories amid Chinese incursions, a senator said on Monday.

“The establishment of forward operating bases for the Philippine Navy would enhance our maritime capabilities, enabling us to effectively patrol and protect our vast maritime domain,” Senator Francis N. Tolentino, told a hearing on Monday.

The lawmaker, who heads the Senate special committee on maritime and admiralty zones, said these outposts would be smaller than major naval bases and cost less to build, or about P1 billion.

The Senate committee is looking at Senate Bill 654, which seeks to establish outposts in 12 areas including in the provinces of Palawan, Zambales and Batanes.

The Philippine Navy is open to accommodate troops from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard while operating these bases, Emillio G. Orio, Jr., assistant chief of naval staff for plans, told senators.

The Philippine Coast Guard on March 4 deployed a patrol vessel for a two- week mission to Benham Rise and Batanes in northern Philippines after Chinese vessels were spotted in the area.

The military on March 12 said it had spotted about 50 Chinese vessels within the country’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.

The Senate last month approved on third and final reading a bill that will set up maritime zones in the South China Sea and Benham Rise in the West Pacific.

The National Mapping and Resource Information Authority last year said it would finish mapping Philippine territories in the waterway by 2028.

The South China Sea is a conduit for more than $3 trillion (P167 trillion) worth of ship-borne commerce each year and is a major source of tension between the Philippines and China.

“These bases will serve as a strategic outpost allowing our Navy to swiftly respond to any threat or challenge that may arise in our waters, including calamities,” Mr. Tolentino said.

“These forward operating bases are to be established as naval and military facilities that can immediately carry out the Philippine Navy’s mandate in the country’s far-flung areas and as potential sites for future upgrades and expansion,” he added.

Almost 200 Chinese militia ships were present near disputed areas of the South China Sea on any given day last year, or a 35% increase, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), a United States think tank said.

“The data show that China’s militia is as active as ever,” it said in a report released on Feb. 28. “An average of 195 militia ships were seen across these features on any given day in 2023, an increase of 35% from AMTI’s last observation of the militia over a 12-month period in 2021-2022.”

It said more than 180 militia ships were spotted at Mischief Reef, which the Philippines calls Panganiban, from July 2023 “after only a minimal presence in the months prior.”

The think tank used satellite imagery of 10 features in the waterway that were frequented by Chinese militia ships. —