It surprises us why the sudden courage for the Philippines to officially launch a beaching ramp in Pag-asa, one of the disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea. In a gesture most ironic as we are supposed to celebrate the Filipino-Chinese Friendship Day every June 9, through Proclamation 148, signed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Jan. 24, 2002, Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana, tagging along a number of journalists, inaugurated the docking facility. The ramp’s construction started in 2017 and would have been finished in a year. Lorenzana said unfriendly weather and rough seas delayed its completion, and thus the 2020 launch. Where it was impossible for large ships to dock, the ramp can now host Navy ships carrying engineering supplies to repair the dilapidated runway in the island.

Welcome to China. (2020, June 12). SunStar Bacolod, p. 4.