Philippine Navy to upgrade Cagayan naval base

MANILA, Philippines – A ranking official announced that the Philippine Navy is set to upgrade its naval base in Cagayan.

Naval Base Camilo Osias located in Sta. Ana town, Cagayan is currently equipped with an airstrip. However, Naval Task Group 11 head Capt. Albert Mogol said there are plans to upgrade it for addressing humanitarian and disaster response activities.

“(What's being developed there) is our capability to respond and to monitor whatever activities are happening in that area, to protect our interests in the north,” Mogol said.

Mogol did not disclose further details on the upgrade plans for security reasons.

Aside from the Cagayan naval base upgrade, the Navy also announced that it will set up more “littoral observation stations” in northern Luzon to beef up its monitoring capability following reports of the Philippine Coast Guard that Taiwan Coast Guard ships have been entering waters near Batanes.

The littoral observation stations seek to improve the Navy’s maritime situational awareness capability to easily monitor intruders and if necessary drive away intruding water craft.

The Navy has already established a littoral observatory station in Basco, Batanes in a building shared with the weather bureau to help monitor the entry of foreign vessels. These are manned by marine troopers.

Mogol said that the observation stations are necessary since the Philippines has a large coastline measuring about 35,000 square kilometers.

In 2013, then Armed Armed Forces northern Luzon Command chief Gregorio Pio Catapang announced a proposal to put up littoral observatory stations in Batanes, Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, and Aurora.