THE Philippine Air Force (PAF) on Wednesday disclosed that it had monitored two cargo and eight naval vessels with Vietnamese markings in the Spratlys in January and March, but admitted that the foreign ships did not violate the Code of Conduct prevailing in the area.

“There was no violation of the Code of Conduct...sent the information to the Foreign Affairs department (DFA) to check if there’s a need for a diplomatic protest or inform other countries,” according to Col. Pedro Rieza, the commander of the 355th Aviation Engineering Wing.

Rieza made the statement in a press conference at the PAF headquarters in Villamor Air Base, where journalists were briefed about the upgrading of the runway on Pagasa Island, one of nine islands which are part of the contested Kalayaan Islands Group (KIG) in the Spratlys.

The PAF said the briefing was meant to allow the media and the public to know what the PAF has been doing to protect the islands in light of the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) among the Philippines, China and Vietnam.

Rieza said that in their latest flight last March, the PAF saw some improvements being done on the structures on Parola Island by the Vietnamese, but that are civilian in nature.

Col. Tony Villarete, the commander of the 570th Tactical Wing in Palawan, said that since the Code of Conduct prohibits the construction of structures on any of the contested islands, the Vietnamese did not violate the agreement because “improving an already occupied island is not a violation.”

He said that in the first quarter of 2008, the PAF monitored 133 vessels that sailed through the Philippine-held islands in Pagasa; and that two cargo and eight naval vessels were found on Parola Islands.

Six countries are laying claim, wholly or in part, to the 53 islands, atolls and sandbars in the KIG, that, besides the three participants in the JMSU, also include Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.

Except for Brunei, the five remaining countries that claim ownership to some of the islands include Vietnam, which claim 21 islands, the Philippines, nine; China, seven; and Taiwan, one.

Rieza said the PAF is upgrading the runway in Pagasa, a municipality of Palawan inhabited by a small population. It has a municipal building, health center, multipurpose hall, police outpost and military detachment.

It also has two sources of power, a generator set and solar power, a communications satellite, single side-band radio and a cellular site.

The runway sits on a 5.6-hectare area with a length of 1,200 meters, capable of accommodating a C-130 Hercules and F-27 Fokker.

According to the PAF, Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, who visited the island to signify the Philippines’ sovereignty over the islands being claimed, said the soldiers in Pagasa “are ready to defend and protect the country’s interest and sovereign rights over the areas by all means and at all cost.”

Vietnamese vessels ‘monitored in Spratlys but no violation committed’

THE Philippine Air Force (PAF) on Wednesday disclosed that it had monitored two cargo and eight naval vessels with Vietnamese markings in the Spratlys in January and March, but admitted that the foreign ships did not violate the Code of Conduct prevailing in the area.

IN an effort to resolve the impasse on the country’s baselines issue, Speaker Prospero Nograles will meet with members of the House foreign affairs committee and the heads of the parties composing the majority coalition hoping to come out with a formula on how to best resolve conflicting positions among the three branches of government.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—A military official disclosed that the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines has changed its strategy to boost the number of its fighters and mass-based supporters.

THE Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) condemned on Wednesday the arrest of 13 farmers and advocacy- group leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia, while they were observing protest actions both at the presidential palace and at the Ministry of Agriculture.

THE World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday urged governments to prioritize the effects of global warming in their health agenda as it warned that climate change may reverse whatever gains were achieved in fighting diseases due to poverty.

THE possibility of a presidential pardon for the nine military officers who were convicted on a coup case by the Regional Trial Court in Makati Tuesday is not remote especially if Malacañang considers the admission of their wrongdoing, the Armed Forces chief of staff said Wednesday.

HAD President Arroyo followed the propoor programs of former President Joseph Estrada, the country would not experience a rice crisis, San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito said Wednesday.

Malacañang is resorting to another diversionary scheme to distract public attention from the increasing list of uncovered administration anomalies with President Arroyo herself insisting on Wednesday that “Senate investigations would not bring rice to the table” of hungry Filipinos.