(Eagle News)–The Philippines has started repairing a runway on Pagasa Island in the West Philippine Sea, a United States thinktank said on Saturday, May 26.
According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (Amti) of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, based on satellite images on May 17, there were two barges located at the island’s airstrip constructed years ago.
“It appears that a grab dredger, consisting of a crane with a clamshell bucket, is installed on the smaller barge to the west, while the other carries a backhoe,” Amti said.
The thinktank said “loose sediment from dredging can be seen in the water around the two barges and freshly deposited sand is visible along the northern edge of the runway.”
It said this type of dredging was “far less environmentally destructive than the suction cutter dredging undertaken by China, which destroyed thousands of acres of reef from late 2013 to early 2017.”
“The repair of port facilities in Pag-asa is consistent with our national sovereignty and jurisdiction,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.
Apart from Pagasa, Amti noted other “upgrades.”
There were satellite images of at least seven new buildings that were built last year.
Four of these were near a residential area, and another beside a basketball court.
Satellite images of Rizal (Commodore) Reef, Lawak (Nanshan) Island and Panata (Loaita) Island of the Philippines in the Spratlys were also shown.
On Panata Island, for instance, a helipad appeared to have been constructed on empty land based on a satellite image dated Feb. 20.
A shelter also appears to be visible on Panata Island in an image dated May 17.
Pag-asa is the biggest of the islands occupied by the Philippines in the Spratlys.
Other claimants in the West Philippine Sea include China, Taiwan, among others.