Time to check on Fuga Island

We are familiar with movie scenes where a character finds herself in a horrible situation. She is either being chased by evil forces or has to wrestle with them in order to survive. A fight to the death ensues and everything goes up in smithereens. Then the character, drenched in sweat, wakes up relieved that it was all only a nightmare. Relieved, yes, but also resolved to find out if the horrific scene has indeed happened in reality, is happening, or about to happen.

My mind has been running that kind of scene ever since news broke that the Philippine Navy dispatched fresh troops and supplies to Mavulis Island “to ensure maritime security in the northern borders.” Mavulis is the Philippines’ northernmost island closest to Taiwan. Nothing to it, we are made to believe.

But China’s muscle-flexing and posturing in the face of the tiny island nation that is Taiwan getting friendly attention from the United States is not to be ignored. That and China’s persistent incursions into Philippine territory indeed call for moves from the Philippines, no matter how feeble. And not to forget the scaled-up Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) with the US and more joint Philippines-US military exercises, (aka war games) in Edca sites, now more in number, while China-Taiwan tension escalates.

Coming to view in my cinematic mind is Fuga Island south of Batanes which, in 2019, had been touted to become a China enclave and playground. My question is: Did it occur to those who dispatched navy troops to Mavulis that a stopover in Fuga Island might be necessary as well? Or is Fuga Island now a forbidden city, off limits to Filipinos of any shape, size, or uniform? Who is checking on Fuga Island? What is now the nature of the Philippines’ presence there?

I did write about Fuga Island in a 2019 column (“Chinese takeover of Fuga Island?” 5/9/2019) and pointed out how our westward gaze and concerns over Chinese intrusion in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have all but made us forget our islands up north where China is also gaining foothold, albeit not through stealth and muscle power.

This is not to say that Philippine efforts to get an international court ruling against China’s territory-grabbing in the WPS, thanks to former president Benigno Aquino III, were all for naught.

In 2019, the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) announced through its website that a Chinese firm was investing $2 billion on the island to turn it into a “smart city” under a memorandum of understanding between Ceza and the Xiamen-based Fong Zhi Enterprise Corp.

Philippine geography refresher: Fuga Island lies between Cagayan province and the Batanes group of islands and is part of the mainland town of Aparri, Cagayan. Its proximity to Sta. Ana, Cagayan, where Ceza is, makes it an ideal place for investors. Fuga is a dream island in the sun and many of us do not know it.

Seven memoranda of understanding with Chinese companies had reportedly been signed in 2019 or thereabouts. Chinese companies were going to set up an agricultural breeding center and soil improvement project, build medical schools, promote culture and tourism, and establish a high-tech industrial park. In other words, the island would become a city unto itself run by the Chinese. There would be resorts, global entertainment, sports, shopping, private villas, manufacturing, airport expansion, name it.

I had said it before and I say it again: The “sinofication” of Fuga Island and Sta. Ana, Cagayan, deserves an inquiry. Who is afraid of doing that? And now the Edca war games begin. We are between a rock and a hard place?

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