CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 20 December) – A prime property within the 3,000-hectare estate run by PHIVIDEC Industrial Authority in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental has been identified as the possible site of a Philippine Navy base due to its deep-sea capability for berthing frigates and submarines.
PHIVIDEC administrator lawyer Joseph Donato Bernedo said talks have started with the Philippine Navy on how to acquire the property, which was intended for a shipyard for a big industrial venture, but the deal did not push through.
“The land has deep-sea capability. It is good for the navy ships and submarines and it is already cleared of any obstruction,” Bernedo said.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the planned naval base at the industrial site would become the center of Philippine Navy operations in Northern Mindanao and the Visayas.
Teodoro said the naval base would have the advantage of good road systems interconnecting Northern Mindanao to Caraga and other parts of Mindanao in case of calamities.
“We are very much eager to start the installation of the facilities soonest. We are just waiting the go-signal from the Office of the President,” the official said in his visit to Lumbia Air Base here early this month.
Bernedo said that while they are eager for the naval base project to proceed, he would caution Navy officials that they have over 200 business locators in the estate and trade is their primary concern.
PHIVIDEC-IA signed Thursday a 25-year-extension to the Mindanao Container Terminal Inc. (MICTSI), a subsidiary owned by businessman Enrique Razon.
MICTSI plans to invest over $100 million to expand the terminal’s capacity, including the construction of a 300-meter berth extension, to increase the terminal’s handling capacity beyond its current 350,000 twenty-foot equivalent units and accommodate larger vessels. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)
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