The islands — Fuga in Cagayan province, and adjacent Grande and Chiquita in Subic Bay, Zambales province — play significant roles in the country’s national security, according to military officials.
Fuga Island, part of the country’s second northernmost island group, provides access to the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea, while Subic Bay is just 260 kilometers from Panatag Shoal that China seized from the Philippines in 2012.
Access to Pacific, S. China Sea
The 10,000-hectare Fuga Island is a quiet, coastal town in Babuyan archipelago, the second northernmost island group in the Philippines. Its location provides access to both sides of the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea.
The island, off mainland Luzon, belongs to the municipality of Aparri in Cagayan province.
Control of Luzon Strait
For the Philippine Navy, Fuga and all other features in the Batanes Group of Islands are considered “strategic features” because “it can potentially control access to Luzon Strait.”
“It is one of the rationales for establishing a presence on Mavulis Island at the border with Taiwan,” said the Navy spokesperson, Capt. Jonathan Zata, referring to the naval detachment launched in the northernmost part of the Philippines this year.
Fuga Island is also considered “unique” by the Navy for its private airfield on one of the adjacent islets and lies astride a telecommunications submarine cable connecting the country with mainland Asia.
Subic Bay, Panatag
Subic Bay, a former US military base until it closed in 1992, is about 260 kilometers from the Chinese-controlled Panatag Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, waters within the country’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.
Just last month, US military strategists sounded alarm that the Dara Sakor project in Cambodia, a $3.8-billion Chinese-backed tourism zone, could be used for military purposes despite denials from Beijing and Phnom Penh.
The project includes an industrial park, luxury resort, medical facilities and a deep-water seaport.
Skeptics are suspicious of the 3,400-meter runway and the nearby deep-water port that are not supposed to be necessary for tourism purposes.
Public trust toward China in the country is also low amid reports of the influx of Chinese nationals and ongoing developments in the West Philippine Sea.
A recent survey by pollster Pulse Asia showed that China was the least trusted country by a majority of Filipinos.
Geopolitical agenda
While it is farfetched for now, a senior Philippine military official said it was possible that Fuga Island would eventually be used by China to support its geopolitical agenda in the Pacific if the investment progress.
A Chinese presence on the island would allow unrestricted access to both the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea and could drag the Philippines in a possible China-Taiwan conflict, he said.
“We could become an accessory to China’s attempt to take over Taiwan. The current threat to Taiwan is currently from the west. If China establishes its footprint in Fuga, the threat would also be from the south,” said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said his office had not been consulted by the business sector on the security implications of the Chinese investments. “I’ll have the intel make an assessment,” he said.
Security analyst Jay Batongbacal said foreign investments should undergo thorough scrutiny for their possible implications.
“The problem is that [the] government only focuses on bringing money in, not the wider and longer-term effects of the projects it approves,” Batongbacal said.
“Investments should be promoted based on a comprehensive review not only of economic cost-benefit analysis but also in terms of direct and indirect noneconomic impact. The latter should include possible implications to national security,” he said.
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Fuga Island, part of the country’s second northernmost island group, provides access to the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea, while Subic Bay is just 260 kilometers from Panatag Shoal that China seized from the Philippines in 2012.
Access to Pacific, S. China Sea
The 10,000-hectare Fuga Island is a quiet, coastal town in Babuyan archipelago, the second northernmost island group in the Philippines. Its location provides access to both sides of the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea.
The island, off mainland Luzon, belongs to the municipality of Aparri in Cagayan province.
Control of Luzon Strait
For the Philippine Navy, Fuga and all other features in the Batanes Group of Islands are considered “strategic features” because “it can potentially control access to Luzon Strait.”
“It is one of the rationales for establishing a presence on Mavulis Island at the border with Taiwan,” said the Navy spokesperson, Capt. Jonathan Zata, referring to the naval detachment launched in the northernmost part of the Philippines this year.
Fuga Island is also considered “unique” by the Navy for its private airfield on one of the adjacent islets and lies astride a telecommunications submarine cable connecting the country with mainland Asia.
Subic Bay, Panatag
Subic Bay, a former US military base until it closed in 1992, is about 260 kilometers from the Chinese-controlled Panatag Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, waters within the country’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.
Just last month, US military strategists sounded alarm that the Dara Sakor project in Cambodia, a $3.8-billion Chinese-backed tourism zone, could be used for military purposes despite denials from Beijing and Phnom Penh.
The project includes an industrial park, luxury resort, medical facilities and a deep-water seaport.
Skeptics are suspicious of the 3,400-meter runway and the nearby deep-water port that are not supposed to be necessary for tourism purposes.
Public trust toward China in the country is also low amid reports of the influx of Chinese nationals and ongoing developments in the West Philippine Sea.
A recent survey by pollster Pulse Asia showed that China was the least trusted country by a majority of Filipinos.
Geopolitical agenda
While it is farfetched for now, a senior Philippine military official said it was possible that Fuga Island would eventually be used by China to support its geopolitical agenda in the Pacific if the investment progress.
A Chinese presence on the island would allow unrestricted access to both the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea and could drag the Philippines in a possible China-Taiwan conflict, he said.
“We could become an accessory to China’s attempt to take over Taiwan. The current threat to Taiwan is currently from the west. If China establishes its footprint in Fuga, the threat would also be from the south,” said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said his office had not been consulted by the business sector on the security implications of the Chinese investments. “I’ll have the intel make an assessment,” he said.
Security analyst Jay Batongbacal said foreign investments should undergo thorough scrutiny for their possible implications.
“The problem is that [the] government only focuses on bringing money in, not the wider and longer-term effects of the projects it approves,” Batongbacal said.
“Investments should be promoted based on a comprehensive review not only of economic cost-benefit analysis but also in terms of direct and indirect noneconomic impact. The latter should include possible implications to national security,” he said.
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