Filipino military pushes naval base upgrades, fearing Chinese spying

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is ramping up its maritime defense posture with plans to establish and upgrade several naval bases in critical areas across the archipelago, including an island base under a basing agreement with the United States and a former American base in Luzon.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told reporters last month about plans to speed up infrastructure works in Balabac Island, a joint Air Force and Navy base in the southern end of Palawan province.

The island is a “strategic location” for the country, Teodoro said, adding that the increased presence of the military there will deter potential surveillance activities in the main island of Palawan, where the government worries about suspected Chinese espionage sleeper cells.

The remote island of Balabac is located 140 nautical miles from Mischief Reef, a China-controlled island in Philippine waters.

Mischief Reef lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, a claim backed by a 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling. China has rejected the ruling and continued to militarize the features it occupied within areas in what the Philippine government calls the West Philippine Sea.

The island base is also one of the Philippines bases under a basing agreement with the U.S., a pact which enables the U.S. to send troops on a rotation basis, preposition military assets, and funnel funds to support base upgrades.

The broader basing agreement encompasses a total of nine Philippine military sites: six Air Force bases, two Army bases, and one Navy base located in northern Luzon.

Aside from Balabac, the Navy is pursuing the construction of additional bases across the archipelago.

The plan comes amid regional tensions in the South China Sea, where Navy sailors have faced harassment from Chinese fleets, and as the Navy acquired warships to enhance external defense capabilities.

The Strategic Basing Plan initiative, set to materialize in 2040, aims to enhance the Navy’s presence in key maritime corridors and to upgrade the infrastructure at current bases to accommodate both existing and incoming fleets.

The bases are “not only for the new ships but also for the old ones,” Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea and Inspector General of the Navy, told Defense News.

The Philippines has enhanced its naval forces in recent years by acquiring frigates, offshore patrol vessels, sealift vessels, fast attack crafts, radars, and missile systems. The Navy is also set to receive additional corvettes from South Korea.

“We want to look at other areas where we can base our ships,” he said. “But the larger goal is to be able to have a stronger naval footprint in that part of the country,” Trinidad said.

The Navy plans to establish 28 forward operating bases or small Navy outposts in strategic locations near the West Philippine Sea and the Philippine Rise in the country’s northeast, which has seen increased incursions from Chinese research vessels since last year.

Among the largest projects are the naval base in Subic Bay and the naval support base in Mindanao, Trinidad said.

Plans to convert these areas were confirmed during the Navy’s 127th anniversary ceremony in May wherein President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the upcoming groundbreaking at Naval Station Nabasan.

This will be followed by Chiquita and Grande Islands in Subic Bay, he said.

These areas are located across the Agila Subic Shipyard, formerly the Hanjin shipyard, which in 2022 was acquired by U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.

Like Palawan, the islands made headlines in March after authorities captured and detained Chinese and Filipino nationals suspected of espionage based on these islands.

Meanwhile, the naval support base in Natividad, Misamis Oriental province in Mindanao, is expected to accommodate ships from Sangley Point.

“For now, these areas will be declared military reservation camps, and then later developed as naval bases,” Trinidad said, adding that they are only waiting for the presidential proclamation documents to come out.

Improvements are being made at the existing bases, including enhancements to Naval Base Rafael Ramos in Cebu, which will accommodate the frigates and sealift vessels.

To further streamline the country’s external defense strategy, the military is exploring joint basing between the Navy and the Air Force, Trinidad said.

“This is the thrust of the [Department of National Defense]… bases do not need to be exclusive. It would be good for us on the resource management side to do joint basing rather than developing our bases individually,” Trinidad said.

Leilani Chavez is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. Her reporting expertise is in East Asian politics, development projects, environmental issues and security.

菲律宾马尼拉——菲律宾正加强其海上防御态势，计划在群岛各地的关键地区建立和升级多个海军基地，其中包括根据与美国签订的基地协议建立的岛屿基地和位于吕宋岛的前美国基地。

国防部长吉尔伯托·特奥多罗上个月向记者透露了加快巴拉巴克岛基础设施建设的计划，巴拉巴克岛是位于巴拉望省南部的一个空军和海军联合基地。

特奥多罗表示，该岛对该国而言是一个“战略要地”，并补充说，增加在该岛的军事存在将阻止在巴拉望主岛上的潜在监视活动，政府担心巴拉望岛上存在疑似中国间谍潜伏小组。

偏远的巴拉巴克岛距离中国控制的菲律宾水域中的美济礁有 140 海里。

美济礁位于菲律宾专属经济区内，这一主张得到了2016年仲裁庭裁决的支持。中国拒绝接受该裁决，并继续在其占领的、位于菲律宾政府所称的西菲律宾海区域内的岛礁上进行军事化建设。

该岛屿基地也是菲律宾根据与美国签订的驻军协议设立的基地之一。该协议允许美国轮流派遣部队、预先部署军事资产，并向基地提供资金支持升级。

这项更广泛的基地协议涵盖了菲律宾的九个军事基地：六个空军基地、两个陆军基地和一个海军基地，均位于吕宋岛北部。

除了巴拉巴克岛之外，海军还在群岛各地推进建设其他基地。

该计划出台之际，正值南海地区局势紧张，海军水兵在南海遭到中国舰队的骚扰，同时海军也在购置军舰以增强对外防御能力。

战略基地计划倡议将于 2040 年实现，旨在加强海军在关键海上走廊的存在，并升级现有基地的基础设施，以容纳现有舰队和即将到来舰队。

海军西菲律宾海发言人兼海军监察长罗伊·文森特·特立尼达少将告诉《防务新闻》：“这些基地不仅适用于新舰艇，也适用于旧舰艇。”

近年来，菲律宾通过采购护卫舰、近海巡逻舰、海运舰艇、快速攻击艇、雷达和导弹系统，显著增强了其海军实力。此外，菲律宾海军还将从韩国接收更多轻型护卫舰。

“我们希望考察其他可以部署舰艇的地区，”他说。“但更大的目标是在该国该地区建立更强大的海军力量，”特立尼达说。

菲律宾海军计划在西菲律宾海和该国东北部菲律宾海隆附近的战略要地建立 28 个前沿作战基地或小型海军前哨站。自去年以来，中国科研船在该地区的入侵活动日益增多。

特立尼达表示，其中最大的项目包括苏比克湾海军基地和棉兰老岛海军支援基地。

在 5 月份举行的海军成立 127 周年庆典上，总统小费迪南德·马科斯宣布了即将在纳巴桑海军基地举行的奠基仪式，并确认了将这些地区改建为海军基地的计划。

他说，接下来将开发苏比克湾的奇基塔岛和格兰德岛。

这些区域位于阿吉拉苏比克造船厂（前身为韩进造船厂）内，该造船厂于 2022 年被美国私募股权公司 Cerberus Capital Management 收购。

与巴拉望岛一样，这些岛屿在 3 月份成为新闻头条，当时当局在这些岛屿上抓获并拘留了涉嫌从事间谍活动的中国和菲律宾国民。

与此同时，位于棉兰老岛东米萨米斯省纳蒂维达德的海军支援基地预计将接待来自桑格利角的舰艇。

特立尼达表示：“目前，这些地区将被划为军事保留地，之后再发展成为海军基地。”他还补充说，他们现在只等总统公告文件发布。

现有基地正在进行改进，包括对宿务的拉斐尔·拉莫斯海军基地进行扩建，该基地将容纳护卫舰和海运船。

特立尼达表示，为了进一步简化该国的对外防御战略，军方正在探索海军和空军之间的联合基地建设。

特立尼达表示：“这正是国防部的重点……基地不必是专属的。从资源管理的角度来看，联合基地建设比各自单独建设基地更有利于我们。”

莱拉尼·查韦斯是《防务新闻》的亚洲记者。她的报道专长是东亚政治、发展项目、环境问题和安全。