TACLOBAN CITY (PIA) – The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Leyte unanimously approved Tuesday, December 3, the motion by Leyte Board Member Carlo P. Loreto to host the installation of the proposed naval or air base by the Department of National Defense in the Visayas area.
Hosting a naval base offers numerous advantages for a location, both from a strategic and economic standpoint.
“Hosting the naval base would provide, not only the province but the entire region, in terms of economic benefits, technological innovation, hub for job creation and infrastructure development,” Loreto said in an interview.
More than that, Loreto points at the strategic position of the province in terms of deployment for humanitarian assistance and disaster response during calamities.
He added that disaster response is oftentimes dependent on air assets and a military base located within the province would give a handy support.
Earlier, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the military would need new facilities and space for assets set to be acquired by the Navy by the end of 2028. Incidentally, Sec. Teodoro was in Leyte last October for the 80th Leyte Gulf Landing Anniversary – a commemoration of one of the biggest battle in naval history.
DND eyes the expansion of naval or airbases in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. In Luzon, the DND is settling to expand its location in Subic Bay site of the former US naval base until 1991; while, in Mindanao the naval base expansion is being eyed inside the 3,000-hectare Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corporation (PHIVIDEC) Industrial Estate in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
Loreto said a number of sites can be found in Leyte suitable for the defense department’s technical requirements to locate and run its naval or airbase facility.
The province lies on the northern part of the Leyte island located in the eastern side of the Visayan region facing the Leyte Gulf, site of one of the biggest naval battle during World War II. Its western side is bounded by the Camotes Sea and the Visayan Sea while its northern part is bounded by Carigara Bay and the San Juanico Strait. (ACR, PIA Eastern Visayas)
