The proposed P80-million budget to improve Pag-asa Island’s defenses and facilities under the 2024 national budget may not be enough, Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto said Saturday.
“For all the loud noises the government makes in defending what is ours in the West Philippine Sea, it seems that the funds it is proposing in the 2024 national budget for improving military facilities in Pag-asa Island in Kalayaan, Palawan amounts to a whimper,” Recto said in a statement.
For 2024, a measly P80 million, insofar as itemized expenditures in the 2024 budget bill goes, the former longtime senator added.
Recto said P40 million in the budget proposal goes to “igloo-style ammunition storage” and another P40 million for a two-storey military personnel barracks. These two projects are found in the P3.8 billion “Tatag ng Imprastraktura para sa Kapayapaan at Seguridad Program “ or TIKAS program , under DPWH, said Recto.
The share of Pag-asa Island, which hosts the Rancudo Air Station and Liwanag Naval Station, translates to a mere 2.1 percent of TIKAS funds, he noted.
“But if it is just P80 million then who would have thought that the government will be proposing a budget that small for a frontline military outpost in the middle of an area rife with tension?” Recto asked.
He stressed the need for a bigger funding for the purpose.
“Our occupation of Pag-asa is unchallenged. Conventional wisdom dictates that we transform an island we physically possess into a bulwark,” the solon said.
“Intruders in the area are expanding their real estate, through massive reclamation, while ours is in danger of shrinking through coastal erosion,” Recto stressed, as he said the House leadership is ready to augment funds intended for Pag-asa.
“The P80 million is an oversight that could be remedied by a budget errata sent to Congress upon the President’s order, which proposes a higher amount, or when faced with executive inaction, Congress can do it on its own,” he said.
“If there are indeed more funds intended for Pag-asa (for sunk-into-ground land improvements and not movable equipment like aircraft and ships) then itemize them in the national budget so that the nation will be assured that our foothold in that area, that unsinkable aircraft carrier of ours, is constantly maintained,” he explained.
“Let the earnest improvement and expansion of Pag-asa Island begin in 2024,” Recto said.