By Darryl John Esguerra | Philippine News Agency
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ordered a review of infrastructure needs in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG), including the possible construction of port and airway facilities, Malacañang said Wednesday.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the President directed the Department of Public Works and Highways to assess conditions on the ground.
“Sa ngayon po ay nakausap ko mismo si [Transportation] Sec. Vince [Dizon], at inutusan po talaga sila ng Pangulo na puntahan ang Kalayaan Island Group at tingnan po kung ano ang kinakailangan. At sila po ay magmumungkahi na gumawa doon ng port at ng airway,” Castro said in a Palace briefing.
The KIG, part of the Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), is under the jurisdiction of Palawan province.
It hosts Pag-asa Island (Thitu Island), the largest Philippine-occupied feature in the area, where both civilian residents and military personnel are stationed.
The WPS remains a flashpoint between the Philippines and China, with Manila asserting its sovereign rights under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 Arbitral Award that invalidated Beijing’s expansive nine-dash line claim. (PNA)
