By Zachary Keck
The Philippines military wants to create a cruise service to take tourists around disputed parts of the South China Sea.
The Philippines military wants to create a cruise service to give tourists an up close and personal view of disputed parts of the South China Sea.
Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang, the newly installed chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), outlined his vision for a cruise service on Thursday while visiting the Palawan-based Western Command, which is responsible for the South China Sea.
When asked about how he would direct Western Command to handle China’s buildup in the region, Gen. Catapang responded in part by saying, “I challenged them to make Palawan the next most prosperous province. Palawan has a lot of potentials [sic], especially if we can also develop the islands that we now possess as [a] tourism destination – fishing grounds, and later on, we can find more oil and gas in the area.”
This led him to mention his goal of creating a cruise service in the region. “Hopefully, we will be able to put up a cruise ship going around six islands,” he said. Among these six are the disputed Spratly Islands of Patag, Lawak and Pagasa, as well as the Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal).
Read the full story at The Diplomat