The US is seeking funding to construct a maintenance facility for the Philippine Coast Guard in the Philippine island province of Palawan, which has a coast on the South China Sea, according to a report from USNI News.
The report said that the Pentagon has recently released notices for upcoming US military construction projects at facilities in Palawan, from where the Philippine Coast Guard and Armed Forces deploy vessels to rocks and reefs in the South China Sea that are also claimed by China.
Philippine and Chinese vessels frequently have tense encounters near the disputed features, which often lead to the US releasing a statement backing Manila that reaffirms the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty covers attacks on Philippine boats, meaning the disputed waters are a potential flashpoint for a clash between the US and China.
In recent years, the US has increased military aid to the Philippines, including funding for new military construction for Philippine forces involved in the South China Sea dispute. Last year, it was revealed that the US would fund a fast-boat base on the western coast of Palawan.
According to USNI, the new projects include the maintenance facility, which will be located at Palawan’s southern Buliluyan Port, and the refurbishment of fuel facilities at the Antonio Bautista Air Base, which is on Palawan’s east coast and open to the US military under the US-Philippine Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
The US has also stepped up its military drills in the Philippines, and during the recent Balikatan Exercise in the country in April, US, Australian, Kiwi, and Philippine forces conducted live-fire drills on Palawan’s South China Sea coast that simulated repelling an invasion force.
