Congress should allocate at least P100-million to fund the construction of permanent structures in Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea and strengthen the country’s presence in the contested maritime territory. 

Soldiers in Ayungin Shoal get fresh food, supplies as China lurks closely. (MB File Photo)

Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero said he will propose such allocation to be included in the proposed P5.768-trillion national budget for 2024. 

“I will propose the allocation of minimum P100-million to fund the construction of a pier and lodging structures for our soldiers assigned in the area, and for our fishermen who might seek temporary refuge in times of bad weather,” Escudero said in a brief statement.

“The allocation for Ayungin Shoal will give President Marcos the budget cover should he decide to do (the construction) next year,” he said.

“So, what will be given is the congressional authority to build more in the Ayungin,” he pointed out. 

Under the budget rules, the President can augment any item in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) “so he can increase the budget as he deems fit but subject to existing rules.”

While the structure will serve as lodging for soldiers in the BRP Sierra Madre, its primary use is to be “a shelter for fishermen from all nations who will be caught in bad weather.”

“It will welcome fishermen in distress with warm accommodations and not with a blast of the water cannon. It is there to help and not to harass,” he said.

The senator said there is a need to rush the construction of these permanent edifice as the BRP Sierra Madre could “soon be lost to the sea.”

“Sierra Madre’s greatest enemy is nature, and it will soon be lost to the sea. Kinakalawang na (It’s rusting). Our soldiers should not die from tetanus,” he said.

“Its being beached there was supposed to be an ad hoc measure. After almost one-quarter it is time for a permanent solution,” the lawmaker pointed out.

Escudero said he will suggest that parts of the structure be prefabricated on land and be brought to the area so that there would be no “China-style” of fortification in which the environment is permanently damaged.

Likewise, the senator said the P100-million budget should be lodged under civilian agencies such as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) or the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

It should also be the DPWH or the PCG that should build the permanent structures “so as not to add to the militarization of the area.”

Moreover, Escudero said an appropriation is the best companion measure to the recently passed Senate resolution on the WPS as the “allocation makes it no longer a mere sense of the Senate resolution.”

“This proposal is not designed to anger China or bring us closer to the brink (of war). This is just to give the president flexibility to act as the chief architect of our foreign policy as he deems fit,” he said. 

“Otherwise, we will have to wait another year if he decides to do so sometime next year without any budget cover,” the senator warned.