Thitu Island, also known as Pag-asa Island ( tl, Pulo ng Pag-asa, lit=Island of Hope; pag, Ilalo, having an area of , is the
second largest of the naturally occurring
[Note that in 2014 the PRC embarked on a number of reclamation projects in the Spratly Islands. It appears that the largest of these, at ]Fiery Cross Reef
Fiery Cross Reef, also known as "Northwest Investigator Reef", Mandarin ; Kagitingan Reef ( tl, Bahura ng Kagitingan, lit=Reef of Valor); vi, Đá Chữ Thập, is a militarized reef occupied and controlled by China (PRC) as part of Sansha of Ha ...
, is of at least 60 hectares, and according to some unverifiable sources, possibly as large as 150 hectares. Spratly Islands
The Spratly Islands ( fil, Kapuluan ng Kalayaan; zh, c=南沙群島/南沙群岛, s=, t=, p=Nánshā Qúndǎo; Malay, id, Kepulauan Spratly; vi, Quần đảo Trường Sa) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed ...
and the largest of the Philippine-administered islands. It lies about west of
Puerto Princesa. Its neighbors are the
North Danger Reef North Danger Reef (Vietnamese: Cụm Song Tử) () is one of the seven major reefs / banks / etc. in the Spratly Islands area of the South China Sea. It is the most North Western of the features of the Spratly Islands, located to the NW of Dangero ...
to the north,
Subi Reef to the west, and the
Loaita and
Tizard Banks The Tizard Bank, is a partially sunken atoll and one of the significant maritime features of the north-western part of the Spratly Islands. It is claimed by the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China, and Vietnam, and various parts of i ...
to the south.
As the
poblacion
''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central, downtown, old town or central business district area of a Philippine city or municipality, which may take up the ...
(administrative center) of the
Kalayaan municipality of
Palawan
Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in t ...
province in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, it also administers nearly a dozen other islets, cays and reefs in the Spratly Islands.
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
also claims the island.
In 2019–20, the island's naval port and civilian-military airstrip were upgraded despite being swarmed by Chinese vessels.
Pag-asa Island has an naval jetty and landing ramp, dual use military and civilian airstrip, a lighthouse, a 5-bed lying-in clinic, a communication tower powered by
Smart
Smart or SMART may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014
* Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com
* ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper
* '' SMart'', a children's television se ...
, and a small elementary school.
While most of the occupants of the structures in the Spratly Islands have military personnel or temporary tourists, Pag-asa Island is the only one with a permanent civilian settlement.
Etymology
The
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
(
Tagalog) name of the island is ''Pag-asa'' ("Hope"). It is also variously called in the following languages, en, Thitu Island;
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
; vi, Đảo Thị Tứ; pag, Ilalo;
Hokkien
The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...
.
[
]Hokkien
The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...
Chinese fishermen historically called the island ''Thih-tu'' (; in Hokkien Min Nan pronounced ). It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as "Tiezhi Island" from the Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
reading (); () refers to another area 7.5 km northeast of this island. The modern Mandarin Chinese name of the island was taken from one of the battleships named ''Chung-yeh'' (), sent by the Chinese government during the Republic of China era to regain control of the island in 1946.
History
Early and colonial history
There are historical records of the island having been inhabited, at various times in history, by fishermen from Champa in present-day Vietnam and the Chinese, and during the Second World War by French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
and Imperial Japanese troops.
In June 1763, the British ship ''Earl Temple'' sank on the reefs of Pag-asa Island en route to Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
. Three crewmembers survived for months on the island, built a raft, and used bird feathers to make a sail. The castaways were able to reach Vietnam, later China, and from there return to England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. In 1997 the shipwreck of the ''Earl Temple'' was discovered by Philippine authorities, and artifacts were recovered and are now displayed at the National Museum of the Philippines
The National Museum of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas}) is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines including ethnographic, anthropological, archaeological, and vis ...
.
From 1930 to 1933, the French colonial government in French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
sent naval troops to the Spratlys, including Pag-asa Island. On 21 December 1933, Gouverneur M. J. Krautheimer in Cochinchina (now Vietnam) decided to annex the Spratlys to Bà Rịa Province.
Post-World War 2 history
Occupation and establishment of civilian administration by the Republic of China
After Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 15, 1945, Republic of China officials responsible for reclaiming the South China Sea Islands embarked to recover the island. The Ministry of the Interior re-erected national markers on the major islands, drew up detailed maps of them, renamed them, and published the Location Map of the South China Sea Island.
In May 1956, Tomás Cloma, a Philippine national, landed on several of the islands, claiming that he had discovered them and enjoyed the rights associated with discovery-occupation. The ROC ambassador to the Philippines immediately issued a statement stressing that the islands were ROC territory, and sent a letter of protest to Philippine Vice President and Foreign Secretary Carlos Polestico Garcia. The Philippine government stated that these were individual actions by Cloma and had nothing to do with the Philippine government.
On October 1, 1956, at Bei Zi Reef in the South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...
(called North Danger Reef North Danger Reef (Vietnamese: Cụm Song Tử) () is one of the seven major reefs / banks / etc. in the Spratly Islands area of the South China Sea. It is the most North Western of the features of the Spratly Islands, located to the NW of Dangero ...
in ), two nationalist Chinese ships (called Taiwanese ships in )- namely, the Ning Yuan (寧遠) flotilla of the Republic of China Navy
The Republic of China Navy (ROCN; ), also called the ROC Navy and colloquially the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF).
The service was formerly commonly just called the Chinese Navy during World W ...
(ROC), containing ROC naval vessels Taihe and Yongshun - approached Cloma's expedition with the boat PMI-IV "and invited Captain Cloma (and Chief Engineer Benito Danseco, and other crew members) and aboard (the naval vessel Tai He ) for a conference. A 4-hour discussion over ownership ensued, during which Cloma was below deck, unaware that a boarding party had searched his vessel and confiscated all arms/ammunition, maps and documents. Captain Cloma protested but was treated discourteously, interrogated, and kept under detention until allowed to rejoin his boat. The next day he was again invited aboard the Chinese ship. There, even under threat to their lives, Cloma and his officers refused to recognize that Freedomland was Chinese territory and to sign a statement (signed under duress, according to Filemon Cloma's son ) that they would leave Freedomland and never come back. Cloma was forced to surrender arms for which he was given a receipt, whereupon the Chinese ship left Ciriaco. Captain Cloma found that the houses on Ciriaco and Irenea had been removed, and the buildings on Abad Santos Island burned down." (Quotation marks directly above indicated heavy paraphrasing from.)
After the Chinese government's building burning and confiscation of property, Tomas and Filemon Cloma agitated for the Government of the Philippines
The Government of the Philippines ( fil, Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas) has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and d ...
to support their claims to Freedomland.
On 22 May 1963, the Republic of Vietnam Navy
The Republic of Vietnam Navy (RVNN; ; ''HQVNCH'') was the naval branch of the South Vietnamese military, the official armed forces of the former Republic of Vietnam (or South Vietnam) from 1955 to 1975. The early fleet consisted of boats fro ...
a sovereignty stele on Thitu Island by crew members of the three vessels Huong Giang, Chi Lang and Ky Hoa of the South Vietnam.
Seizure by the Philippines from the Republic of China
On 18 April 1971, due to a strong typhoon hitting Pag-asa Island (Zhongye Island), the Republic of China (Taiwan) authorities ordered all the garrisons on Zhongye Island to withdraw to Taiping Island to avoid typhoons. However, after the typhoon, the Taiwan side changed its defense, transferred the original troops back to Taiwan, and then used the landing ship to transport new troops to Zhongye Island. The Philippines saw this empty space and organized the troops to land on the island occupied by Taiwan on 29 July and renamed the island "Pag-asa Island". According to the 155th page of the second episode of "The Land Salary" published by the Taiwan Marine Corps
The Republic of China Marine Corps (ROCMC; ), also known colloquially as the Taiwan Marine Corps, is the amphibious arm of the Republic of China Navy (ROCN) responsible for amphibious combat, counter-landing and reinforcement of the areas under th ...
Command, the Taiwan Navy detachment that arrived at Zhongye Island on the same day found that the Philippine Marine Corps was on the island, and Captain Hao Deyun immediately ordered the command. The 76mm gun was ready to be fired. The Philippine army on the island is a huge threat to Taiwanese forces, as a result they suddenly received an order from above: no challenge, the troops changed to Taiping Island. These Taiwanese Kuomintang officers and men had to watch the Zhongye Island fall back into the hands of the Philippines.
The Philippines formally established the municipality of Kalayaan on Pag-asa island on 11 June 1978, by virtue of Presidential Decree 1596 series of 1978.
Post-PCA decision
Seven new buildings were constructed on Thitu Island in 2017.
In 2018, the Philippine Coast Guard
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ( fil, Tanod Baybayin ng Pilipinas) is recognized as the third armed uniformed service of the country attached to the Philippines' Department of Transportation, tasked primarily with enforcing laws within P ...
constructed 5 lighthouses in the area, and this includes one on Thitu Island.
In 2018–19, the Philippines started to built a beach ramp, enabling the delivery of construction equipment for to work on the construction, rehabilitation and repairs of the Rancudo Airfield airstrip, soldiers' barracks, conventional and renewable power generators, desalination facilities, lighthouses, sewage disposal system, shelters and storage facilities for civilian fishermen.
By May 2020, the beaching ramp was completed and Filipino Naval ship BRP Ivatan landed on the ramp. Work on the port and upgrades to the island's airstrip progressed.[Philippines bolsters posture in South China Sea after navy ship docks at new Spratly Islands port](_blank)
South China Morning Post, 27 May 2020.
On 9 June 2020, the Philippine Department of National Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to:
Current departments of defence
* Department of Defence (Australia)
* Department of National Defence (Canada)
* Department of Defence (Ireland)
* Department of National Defense (Philippi ...
(DND) led the inauguration of a beaching ramp on Thitu Island which was finally completed after three years. The facility enabled to bring in more materials and equipment to repair and maintain the airstrip and building of other facilities. Also, the Department of Transportation (DOTR) confirmed that the new seaport and sheltered port on Thitu Island is completed and ready to operate by 12 June. In June 2020, the Philippines reversed its decision to suspend the Philippines–United States Visiting Forces Agreement
The Philippines–United States Visiting Forces Agreement, sometimes the PH–US Visiting Forces Agreement, is a bilateral visiting forces agreement between the Philippines and the United States consisting of two separate documents. The first ...
, and completed construction of access ramp on Thitu Island, which will enable the Philippines to commence repair to the airbase runway. China has been asked by the Philippines to respect the Permanent Court of Arbitration
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that aris ...
, which rejected China's claims in the South China Sea.[Golden period of China-Philippines friendship loses its shine](_blank)
South China Morning Post, 23 July 2020.
In August 2020, the Kalayaan municipal government named six sandbars and two reefs associated with Pag-asa Island.
On 12 June 2021, the National Power Corporation
The National Power Corporation ( fil, Pambansang Korporasyon sa Elektrisidad, also known as Napocor, NPC or National Power), is a Philippine government-owned and controlled corporation that is mandated to provide electricity to all rural areas o ...
switched on its ₱33 million Kalayaan Diesel Power Plant project that covered the supply, delivery and installation of the 300 kilowatt diesel generating sets, a 13.8-kilovolt (kV) distribution line and fuel oil storage tanks, providing round-the-clock power to the facilities on the island.
Topography
Pag-asa Island is a low-lying island with trees, shrubs, and sand bars. It is surrounded by coral reefs
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
Co ...
populated with rusting shipwrecks
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
visible above water.
Civilian administration
The island serves as the town proper to the municipality of Kalayaan. Only Pag-asa Island, among all Philippine-occupied Spratly islands, is currently inhabited by Filipino civilians. The civilian population of about 300, which includes children, were introduced in 2001. However, fewer than 200 civilian Filipinos are present on the island at a time. They live in a few dozen houses, linked with sandy paths. It administers nearly dozen other islets, cays, and reefs in the Spratly Islands. It is the only Philippine-occupied island in the Spratlys to have a significant number of structures, including a municipal hall, multi-purpose hall, health center, school, police station, coast guard station, marine research station, water-filtration plant, engineering building, marina, communication tower, and military barracks. The residents raise pigs, goats, and chickens, and plant crops in an allotted space to supplement their supplies of goods provided by a naval vessel which visits once a month. By day, the residents get electricity from a power generator
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery (transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its storag ...
owned by the municipality. By night, they shift to stored solar power
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovolta ...
that comes from 1.5-volt solar panels installed on the island. The houses do not have running water – water is used from tanks in front of each house. A diesel power plant was activated on 12 June 2021, providing full power from day to night.
In April 2021, the Department of Information and Communications Technology announced the installation of free Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wav ...
facilities at Pag-asa Island Elementary School, Barangay Hall, and other sites on the island. This has allowed children on the island to continue with their distance learning.
The Philippine Coast Guard
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ( fil, Tanod Baybayin ng Pilipinas) is recognized as the third armed uniformed service of the country attached to the Philippines' Department of Transportation, tasked primarily with enforcing laws within P ...
plans to upgrade its coast guard station on Pag-asa Island to boost monitoring of incursions and maritime safety and search and rescue.
Military
The island has been occupied and administered by the Philippines since 1971.
Being the second largest of the Spratly Islands, It is tightly protected by the Philippine forces. The island's beaches have unused concrete bunker
A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...
s which were built in the 1970s, a few years after the Philippine military base was established. Two-thirds of the Philippine military stationed in Philippine-occupied islands (i.e. 40 out of 60 soldiers) are assigned to the island.
Rancudo Airfield
Rancudo Airfield, named after the former Philippine Air Force Commanding General, Jose L. Rancudo, is a military and civilian airfield which was built in 1978 and has a unpaved airstrip. It is currently operating on just 1,200 meters because both ends of the runway have been eroded by the sea. Repairs, initially set to begin by 2018, have been delayed.
Naval Station Emilio Liwanag
Naval Station Emilio Liwanag (formerly called as Naval Station Pag-Asa) is the naval base of the Philippine Navy within Kalayaan, Palawan. It was renamed on 7 July 2009, in honor of Emilio S. Liwanag
Captain Emilio S. Liwanag (March 27, 1911 – April 12, 1967) was an officer in the Philippine Navy who served during the World War II, Second World War and the Korean War.
He started his military career as a 3rd Lieutenant with the 3rd Light In ...
, a retired World War II and Korean War veteran. In 2004, the Philippine Navy's BRP ''Lanao del Norte'' (LT-504) ran aground during a failed attempt to dock near the island. The damaged ship remains at the site of the wreck. Additionally, the Philippine Navy has since then built a naval base be built on the island, specifically for the purposes of training the Philippine Navy's elite Special Warfare Group or Navy Seals.
Development plans
The Philippine Navy has since 1999 proposed to create a long causeway leading to a deep-water region.[ (in )] This has already been completed as of June 2020, paving the way for Philippine Navy ships and contractors to proceed with the landing of equipment for the improvement of the facilities of the island.
The island has a white sand coastline, is filled with trees, and is a sanctuary of several species of sea birds. Its wide coral base makes for good diving. Senator Sonny Angara
Sonny is a common nickname and occasional given name. Often it can be a derivative of the English word "Son", a name derived from the Ancient Germanic element *sunn meaning "sun", a nickname derived from the Italian name Salvatore (especially in N ...
filed a bill on 27 August 2016, that aims to promote the island as an ecotourism zone. If such proposal will be enacted to a law, other islands controlled by the Philippines would also be declared as protected areas under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS).
In 2017, approximately 1.6 billion pesos was allocated to the island's development, for projects including a desalination plant, a port, and runway repairs. Newly repaired naval and air ports will enable the delivery of construction materials and essential supplies to improve living conditions, and construction of desalination plant, renewable energy power source, cold storage facility, and fish port. A beaching ramp and sheltered port were inaugurated in 2020. Runway repairs are set to begin by mid-2021.
The Philippine government plans to turn the island into a logistics hub to sustain the country's military forces in the area.
See also
* Kalayaan, Palawan
Kalayaan, officially the Municipality of Kalayaan ( tgl, Bayan ng Kalayaan), is a 6th class municipality in the South China Sea under the jurisdiction of the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population ...
* Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea involve conflicting island and maritime claims in the region by several sovereign states, namely Brunei, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan (Republic of China/ROC), Indonesia, Malaysia, Ph ...
* China containment policy
* Dongsha Island Airport
Dongsha Airport is located on Pratas Island (Tungsha/Dongsha) in Cijin District of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Uni Air offers flights from Kaohsiung once per week each Thursday, however the service is only available for Coast Guard Administration sta ...
(Pratas Island)
* Yongxing Island Airport
Yongxing Island Airport , also known as Woody Island Airport, is a civilian-military dual-use airport located on Yongxing (Woody) Island, the largest of the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. Yongxing/Woody Island is occupied and a ...
(Woody Island in the Paracel Islands)
* List of airports in the Spratly Islands
This is a list of airports in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indoc ...
* List of maritime features in the Spratly Islands
This page features a series of lists of maritime features in the Spratly Islands.
Features by area
Of the hundreds of maritime features in the Spratly Islands, relatively few have land permanently above sea-level that is larger than protruding ...
* Taiping Island Airport
Taiping Island Airport () is an airport on Taiping Island, Cijin District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It is located in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea. The island (named Itu Aba before 1946See Taiping Island for more information.) belongs to ...
* Layang-Layang Airport
Layang-Layang Airport ( English: Swallow Reef Airport) is located on Swallow Reef (Pulau Layang-Layang) in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea. It is about north of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The airport serves a Royal Malaysian Navy naval sta ...
References
External links
Maritime Transparency Initiative Island Tracker
{{South China Sea
Islands of the Spratly Islands
Kalayaan, Palawan
Thitu Reefs