The military’s top priority is to build a naval base on the country’s western coastline, opposite the disputed Spratly islands, although plans have been delayed by funding bottlenecks, Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said yesterday. Catapang said US, Japanese and Vietnamese naval vessels would be allowed to make port calls once the facility in Oyster Bay in Palawan was finished. Developing the island paradise into a military facility could exacerbate tensions with China, which claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including the Spratlys.

Laude, J. (2015, May 13). Phl to build naval base near Spratlys. The Philippine Star, pp. 1, 8.