The Philippine government has approved the construction of a U.S.-funded boat maintenance facility inside Naval Detachment Oyster Bay in Puerto Princesa, Palawan—an area close to flashpoints in the West Philippine Sea.
In a statement released Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Manila confirmed that the proposed facility, set within Ulugan Bay, has been cleared by the Philippine government. The U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command began public solicitation for the project’s design and construction on July 7.
The upcoming facility, the embassy clarified, “is not a military base,” but will provide essential maintenance and repair functions for small watercraft used by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). It will also include two multipurpose rooms that can be used for storage or as meeting spaces.
Naval Detachment Oyster Bay is a key departure site for AFP-contracted vessels tasked with conducting rotation and resupply (RoRe) missions to the grounded BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal, where tensions with China have flared repeatedly.
On June 17, one such mission turned violent when Chinese forces forcibly intercepted a Philippine vessel, resulting in the amputation of a Filipino sailor’s thumb—the most serious injury yet in the ongoing maritime standoff.
While the U.S. has extended offers of support—including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance—Pentagon officials have reiterated that no American personnel are directly involved in Philippine resupply missions. The embassy also stressed: “All of our military activities in the Philippines are done in full coordination with our Philippine allies.”
Despite earlier U.S. offers to escort Philippine RoRe missions, AFP Chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said, “we will depend on ourselves first, and we will try to exhaust all options before asking for help.”
The Philippines and the United States are longstanding allies under the Mutual Defense Treaty, which obligates both sides to support each other in the event of an external armed attack.
