US to Build Boat Maintenance Facility in Palawan

The United States military will build a boat maintenance facility at the Philippine Navy's Oyster Bay detachment in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

- By MICHAEL PUNONGBAYAN

The structure will not be a military base, the US embassy stressed yesterday, as it announced that the US Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command had issued an invitation to bid or public solicitation for its design and construction.

The Naval Detachment Oyster Bay has been the launching point of previous rotation and resupply missions of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

It is where small civilian boats commissioned by the military to bring food and supplies to troops depart for the grounded BRP Sierra Madre.

The US embassy said the facility to be built "will provide repair and maintenance capabilities for several small Philippine military watercraft and will include two multi-purpose interior rooms suitable for equipment storage or conference use."

"The boat maintenance facility is not a military base. The project is approved by the government of the Philippines in accordance with all applicable US and Philippine local rules and regulations," the announcement read.

"Our US-Philippine alliance with its roots in the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty remains a cornerstone of peace and security, promoting our common vision for a free, open, and resilient Indo-Pacific," it added.

The embassy noted that all US military activities in the Philippines "are done in full coordination with our Philippine allies." Asked for confirmation or more details about the project, AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said further inquiries would be better answered by the US side.

"We respectfully defer this matter to our United States counterparts, as it falls within their purview to address," she told The STAR.