Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 22) — Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel has filed a bill seeking to declare and develop Pag-asa Island as a recreation fishing tourism destination.
In his explanatory note, Pimentel said House Bill 6228 proposes to develop the island to provide Kalayaan town in Palawan, which currently has little to no income, a new recurring revenue stream from tourism-related activities.
According to the bill dated Nov. 21, making the island a leisure fishing tourism site will afford small-scale fisherfolk additional sources of income, such as leasing their boats and offering services to tourists.
Kalayaan, a sixth-class municipality, is the country’s least populated town, with only 193 residents all living on Pag-asa Island, according to the 2020 census. Pag-asa is the seat of the municipal government.
“The ultimate purpose of this bill is to pave the way for the development of Pag-asa, considering that other countries claiming all or parts of the Spratly archipelago are also increasing their presence on the islands, reefs and shoals that they occupy there,” the note read.
Once approved, the Kalayaan municipal government and the Palawan provincial government will be given a year to create a tourism development plan in coordination with the Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and other concerned government agencies.
The plan should include construction, installation, and maintenance of infrastructure and facilities and should ensure nature preservation and conservation, it added.
Moreover, the funds needed for the implementation of the proposed measure and the tourism development plan will be under the budget of DOT.
Pag-asa Island, which has an approximate surface area of 0.41 square kilometers, lies 227.4 nautical miles from the archipelagic baseline of Palawan. It has been occupied by the Philippines since the 1970s.
The island is the largest landform in the Kalayaan Island Group, which is at the northeastern section of the disputed Spratly Islands. China calls the island Zhongye Island, while its international name is Thitu.
On Sunday, an incident occurred near Pag-asa Island, where the Philippine Navy claimed the Chinese Coast Guard “forcefully” took an unidentified floating object being retrieved by a navy team. Some “repetitive sounds” believed to be from an “artillery weapon” were heard on Subi Reef by members of Naval Station Emilio Liwanag two hours after the incident.
The Chinese embassy has denied and contradicted these accounts, saying “relevant reports are inconsistent with facts.”
READ: Chinese embassy denies ‘forceful’ retrieval of unidentified floating object near Pag-asa Island
