MANILA: The Chinese have transformed the Panganiban (Mischief) Reef in Palawan into a forward naval station with at least one ship docked in the area, a senior security official disclosed yesterday.
The official, who asked not to be identified, pointed out that since China’s illegal occupation of Panganiban Reef in 1994, Beijing had slowly transformed the area into its forward naval facility in the West Philippine Sea. “At one given time there’s a Chinese frigate out there,” he said of the area located around 130 nautical miles from Hulugan Bay in Palawan and 97 nautical miles from Pag-Asa, an island municipality in the disputed Spratlys archipelago.
The source said the place is now considered as the most advanced naval fortification in the disputed region, servicing the needs of Chinese fishermen and their fishing boats.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced the other day that it is verifying reports that Chinese gunboats have been monitored at Panganiban Reef, which is part of Philippine territory. “They have long been there, they already established a forward naval station,” the source said, saying that Panganiban Reef or Meijie Reef to the Chinese, rightfully belongs to the Philippines as it is well within the country’s exclusive economic zone. In 1994, China occupied the reef by building structures on stilts and then slowly transformed the area into a heavily fortified eight-story naval facility complete with radar domes, helipad and piers. The Philippine star
