Manila, Feb. 8 -- Improving all existing facilities in the municipality of Kalayaan, which is located in Pag-asa Island, is the government's constitutional mandate, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Friday.
The defense chief made the remark in the wake of reports that China has deployed a paramilitary force in response to ongoing rehabilitation efforts in the island late last year.
"Improving the safety, welfare, livelihood, and personal security of Filipinos in the municipality of Kalayaan, a distinct and separate town under the province of Palawan, is the government's Constitutional mandate. Kalayaan has been part of the sovereignty of the Philippines since 1978, by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 15...