De Lima draws flak for 'inaction' on US mini base plan

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday drew flak from a fisherfolk group for her maintenance her silence on the alleged construction of a mini-naval base for US Marines despite  request to probe the issue.

"The request for her office to undertake a serious investigation on the plan of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to construct a mini Subic naval base for US military has been sent three months ago," Pamalakaya vice chair Salvador France in a statement.

France said Pamalakaya sent a letter to de Lima last Oct. 7, appealing to the justice secretary to investigate the plan to build mini-Subic Naval Base in Oyster Bay in Palawan.

The group also demanded to file appropriate charges against concerned officials arising from the mini-naval base project, France said.

France raised the inquiry anew, a day after the Department of National Defense announced that a total of five bidders have been declared eligible to bid for two projects to upgrade the military’s detachment in Oyster Bay facing the West Philippine Sea.

The DND said Phil. Rigid Construction, Luzviminda Engineering, Vicente T. Lao Construction and C.S. Santiago Construction Company Inc. qualified to bid for the P237 million project for the construction of a pier and harbor at the Palawan-based naval detachment.

The mini-Subic Naval Base according to Navy officials of the Aquino administration  will enhance the external defense capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in lieu of the perpetual tension in the West Philippine Sea between the Philippine government and China and among the current claimants in Spratly Group of Islands.

France claimed that the mini-naval base project in Oyster Bay is part of the US agenda to increase its military presence in the Philippines on rotational basis.

He also said the 1987 Philippine Constitution strictly prohibits foreign military bases in the country.

The group said that the impact of Oyster Bay naval base project to the livelihood of fishing folks and marine environment is "far reaching, extremely dangerous and totally catastrophic."

"Any plan to alter or change the nature of the bay will have a giant kill on the biodiversity and on the fisherfolk  who are  largely dependent on the rich biodiversity of the bay and Palawan ocean and marine waters," Pamalakaya said.