DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr said the defense and military establishments are eyeing a naval base in Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental amid efforts to enhance their territorial defense capabilities.
“We want to start it (construction) the soonest time possible. We’re just waiting for the go signal from the Office of the President,” Teodoro told reporters during a visit at the Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City on Saturday.
Teodoro said the planned naval base will be under the command of the Philippine Fleet, one of the major units of the Philippine Navy.
“It will not just be a naval base but also a dockyard that will provide service to Mindanao, to our large naval ships … (It will be) a maintenance base and operating base for the whole of Mindanao,” he said.
Teodoro said the naval facility may also serve as a logistics hub for disaster response operations.
“The heavy goods, whether for purely military purposes or humanitarian assistance and disaster response, that cannot be transported by air will be brought here by our ships, they are going to dock there (at the naval base),” he said.
As to the project’s cost, Teodoro said, “The amount is restricted. We cannot talk about it, that’s an operational matter and we are subject to operational security requirements.”
The defense and military establishments seek to develop their capabilities to protect and secure the Philippine territory, under the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC) which Teodoro has said is meant to “protect our whole territory on a 360-degree basis, not only in the West Philippine Sea but on the eastern seaboard and our southern boundaries.”
Teodoro said constructions are also being done at other EDCA sites although some of these are hampered by problems with land titles, which he said are being addressed.
EDCA refers to the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement signed by the Philippines with the United States in 2014. China has opposed the designation of military facilities in Cagayan province among the nine EDCA sites, as these are near Taiwan which China claims as part of its territory.
On the possible reaction of China to these constructions, Teodoro said, “We don’t care (what China will say). Don’t listen to China. I mean, we have goals regardless of what China thinks.”
At the Lumbia Air Base, Teodoro inspected the construction of a warehouse under EDCA.
He said the construction, through $1.9-million funding from US, is needed for the prepositioning of goods and other supplies needed in disaster response operations.
Teodoro also discloses that the defense and military establishments are further developing the Lumbia Air Base which he said will become a home to the 15th Strike Wing, currently based in Cavite.
“It will be the maintenance and operating base and training base of our strike wing, meaning our attack helicopters, attack aircraft,” Teodoro said, adding that these construction works may be completed by 2026.
