Kalayaan Island Group revisited

GMA Network

09-06-2025

The C130 Hercules cargo plane shuddered as it landed on the new runway of Pag-asa Island in the Kalayaan Island Group. The engines seemed to screamed a note higher, the plane decelerating and coming to a stop at the end of the 3 kilometer concrete strip.
The belly of the plane hinged down to form a ramp, down which we wrestled our transmission equipment and personal gear unto the concrete, still wet from the intermittent monsoon rains.
A towering hangar built beside the old watch tower, dominated all the structures on the island. It is a massive structure with salt-stained doors reaching all the way to its roof.
The LGU-owned boat M/L Kalayaan docked inside the boat shelter in Pag-asa Island.
To its left, the new control tower was in the last stages of completion, the bright paint already laid down. It was obvious the government planned to keep airplanes on the island, although the Philippines do not have planes proportionate to this hangar's size.
At the back of the hangar, construction equipment hauled large rocks and sand unto the enclosed ship shelter. Navy personnel explained that the harbor was being expanded to accommodate larger ships. Work was also underway to extend the runway to allow bigger planes to land on the island.
Elsewhere on Pag-asa, a community generator and several banks of solar panels provided electricity to the naval station as well as the community. A water desalination plant regularly provides potable water to both military personnel and civilians. It was different in the early 2000s when the only source of fresh, albeit salty water was the lone hand-dug well at the center of the island.
Here and there, remnants of the Pag-asa Island I visited back in 2003 can be still be found. Apart from the rickety watch tower, the decaying hulks of the old amphibious tanks slept under the trees near the gate of Naval Station Emilio Liwanag. These tanks have always been an enigma to me. Perhaps it represents the former military might of the Philippines back in the early 1970s when these things arrived by Landing Sea Transport vessels and lumbered through the coral shelf to reach the shore.
It must have been quite the statement to send these war machines to resist any attempt to take back Pag-asa Island.
However, one has but to look at the sea at the end of the runway to realize the days when the Philippines enjoyed any military superiority, or offered any deterrence, is firmly, a thing of the past. A few kilometers offshore, silhouetted by the dying sun, a lone Chinese Coast Guard ship seemed to stand still in the darkening sea. Further in the distance the Chinese fishing militia vessels with their huge booms stood out like birds ready to take flight.
Somewhere to the right, obscured by light rain, the BRP Andres Bonifacio of the Philippine Navy loitered in the rough seas. The former US Coast Guard cutter, built in 1967, is one of the first blue-water ships the Philippines acquired as part of its push to build up naval assets after the Chinese occupation of Scarborough Shoal.
We would call that ship home over the next several days of the maritime patrol mission throughout the KIG.
As guests of the AFP in Pag-asa, we shared living quarters with the military personnel stationed on the island. The male reporters and cameramen, set up our beddings in a sweltering common room, with around 20 beds.
It was hard to sleep at night because of the stifling heat and some of us carried our folding cots to the beach area where the wind from the sea offered us relief. It was the onset of the monsoon season when the weather was supposed to be tempered by regular rain. I can only imagine how the soldiers survive the nights during the height of the dry season.
The female journalists, on the other hand, were billeted in a concrete bunker-like structure with limited ventilation and intermittent water supply to the toilets. Like our barracks, the heat made it uncomfortable at night and intolerable during the day.
Behind our barracks, lay a scattering of plastic water tanks providing fresh water to a makeshift bathing area and two toilets. The toilets are basic affairs — just a bowl one sits down upon to do your thing and a bucket of water to wash and flush everything down its ceramic gut. This is not to say I expected five-star accommodations on the island. I was more concerned that that soldiers laying their lives on the line defending our sovereignty, have to live with limited human comforts such as clean operational toilets and ventilated sleeping quarters.
Later that evening, unable to stand the humidity in the barracks, I carried my tent down to the beach behind the sentry outpost facing Chinese-occupied Subi Reef. Before sleeping, I tried peering through the huge "big eye" binoculars mounted on a steel tripod. The lights of the Chinese facilities on Subi Reef can be made out against the darkness. Further right, the Chinese militias ships had turned on their rows of lights illuminating the sea around them. The Chinese ships were not doing any fishing..they just loitered there, making their presence known.
The following day, I was awakened by the sound of the incessant beeping from a backhoe digging a few meters from my tent. It was around 4:30 am and the contractors were already at work to beat the onset of the merciless heat.
The wind had picked up through the night and I could hear the waves breaking somewhere in the stygian darkness.
The sheer size of the 115 meter BRP Andres Bonifacio prevented it from docking at the island's boat ramp. Going onboard meant a 30 minute ride on the rubber boats over the rough, temperamental sea. Drenched and cold, the journalists scaled the ship through a ladder lowered on its side.
Despite its age, the ship had pleasant accommodations. The airconditioning was working and there was even soft ice cream on board. These small details made life a bit more bearable during the long deployment at sea.
"Alam naman natin isa sa moral and welfare ng personnel natin comes with quality of food na binibigay. So from time to time, nagprepare kami ng simple gifts sa personnel namin like ice cream and desert magpalighten up ng current mission namin," Lieutenant Commander Christian Malabanan, the ship's operations officer, explains.
However, on some parts of the ship, its age could no longer be denied. The surface of the flight deck was flaking away from thick rust. During critical times, the toilet vacuum flush system failed. Sometime during our three day patrol, the airconditioning in our quarters also experienced trouble.
Infestation was also a constant battle between sailor and insect.
Malabanan explains that maintaining the ship was a challenge but repairs and intervention were underway to address the problems.
Despite being over 50 years old, the business end of the ship remained intact. The main 76mm Oto Milara gun remained operational and had lost none of its lethal capability. Two 20 mm automated cannons flanked the sides of the ship and a scattering of 50 caliber machine guns could be found here and there. Electronic surveillance and navigation equipment had also been upgraded to increase combat readiness and operational capability.
The ship's Combat Information Center officer, Lieutenant Jade Marlon Fontilla acknowledges the need to upgrade and modernize the Philippine Navy's warships. Despite the Bonifacio being one of the older ships in the Philippine Naval Fleet, its age does not affect the mission it normally undertakes.
"We really had to upgrade our ships however, ine-establish lang natin provided ano lang ang capability ng barkong ito and Andres Bonifacio. Ine-ensure lang natin ang presence natin regardless of the capability of the ship. Ang pinapakita lang natin dito is we have the rights to conduct maritime patrols in these islands occupied by the Philippines, " he said.
That afternoon we reached Parola Island, described as the furthest occupied feature from mainland Palawan. Like Pag-asa Island, it also lies outside the Philippine EEZ. From a distance, I could barely make out the outline of the naval station embedded in the treeline. In contrast, the Vietnamese-occupied Pugad Island which lay a few nautical miles away from Parola, featured a large white radar dome and several large buildings and concrete towers. A large, unidentified Vietnamese vessel seemed to guard the passage between the two islands.
We were not given the opportunity to explore the island given time constraints, the lack of a port, and the inclement weather.
Likas Island
A day after, the weather cleared somewhat, and we were able to ride the rubber boats to Likas Island, with its fine white sand beaches and rich marine life.
As we approached the island, a large lighthouse painted in red and white stood over the small naval detachment. A short distance from the lighthouse, a Philippine flag mounted on a thin steel pole fluttered, tenuous and swaying in the strong wind.
While security considerations prevented us from disclosing how long soldiers stay here during their tour of duties, suffice to say it encompasses a significant period of time.
Armed members of the Philippine Marines stand ready to defend Likas from any attempt to take over the island.
rmed members of the Philippine Mines stand ready to defend Likas from any attempt to take over the island.
To augment their food supplies, the soldiers here have started breeding goats and chickens. Who gets to partake in goat meat, however, remains unclear, given that goats take at least a year to grow and roughly half that time to breed.
A small space below the bank of solar panels serves as a chicken coop for around a dozen, half-grown chicken.
At the center of the naval detachment, squash, okra and chili plants were being grown in a fenced off garden to prevent the goats from feasting on them.
At the back of the detachment, a shortened basketball court had been built, offering respite from the long months on the island.
Despite the island being only 18 hectares in size, a well supplied freshwater to the occupants of the island. Soldiers here, however, explain that since the water was still salty, they have to process it through a desalination machine, and boil it further before they can actually drink it. Most of the drinking water on the island is still supplied from the resupply missions carried out regularly throughout the KIG.
Beyond the main wooden gate, a weather battered skeleton of a parol or Christmas Star, its panels stripped by the wind, lay stricken on the sand beside a sign welcoming visitors to Likas Island. It was a stark reminder to visitors that Christmases have been spent here in the middle of the turbulent sea, from the time the Philippines sent soldiers here to stake its claim to these islands.
A Christmas star on Likas Island reminds visitors of the long months soldiers have to be away from their families in the name of their sworn duty to defend the country's territory.
One of those on tour of duty was Technical Sergeant Nino Calbog of the Philippine Marines who comes from Iloilo City. Despite the isolation, he says life on the island is tolerable given the amenities provided to the naval station. With the advent of satellite internet, soldiers and coast guard personnel on the island can regularly call their families and watch films on the internet.
While acknowledging the challenge of being away from his growing children, Calbog hopes his children understand his duty as a soldier.
"Sinasabi ko lang palagi sa kanila para sa kanila yung tinatrabho ko bilang sundalo mapalayo sa pamilya pero man jan si misis magpaliwanag maganda sa kanila na si tatay malayo," he said.
Colonel Joel Bonavente, the Naval Task Force 42 commander, understands the psychological and physical effects of being so far away from home. One of the priorities then was to supply internet access to the military outposts to alleviate the boredom of being what was essentially being stranded on a desert island.
"Kung malayo ka sa family mo kahit wifi at entertainment ay malaking bagay kaya (If you are away from your family, wifi access and entertainment mean a lot so that) from time to time, we are upgrading the facilities and looking on how to improve the way of life ng mga sundalo (of the soldiers), " Bonavente said.
Apart from the efforts to provide better facilities, the AFP gives compensation to troops stationed in the KIG in the form of the so-called loneliness pay, equivalent to 50% of the current base pay enjoyed by AFP personnel in general. Upon completion of their tour of duty, troops have the option to undergo psychological debriefing to process the time spent in relative isolation.
The Likas Island lighthouse represents the Philippines' exercise of administration and sovereignty over the maritime feature.
AFP spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla explains the upgrade of facilities in the islands' outposts are within the pipeline for priority projects under the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept.
Having seen the living conditions of the soldiers first hand would be the basis for recommendations and request for funding under the General Appropriations Act. Upgrade of the living facilities may also be possible through aid from foreign sources supporting the Philippines' assertion of its rights to its own EEZ.
"So with these sovereignty patrols and marpat (maritime patrol), nakikita natin ang (we are able to see their) conditions nila and when we get back, we will give reports accordingly. Ipro-program yan for next year so kasama na siya sa releases next year para ma-improve", she said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News