China navy patrol ship runs aground in shoal off Palawan Island Philippines

A Chinese naval frigate has run aground while patrolling disputed waters in the South China Sea, the defense ministry said Friday, amid tensions with the Philippines over territorial claims.

The ship was on "routine patrol" when it became stranded near Half Moon Shoal in the Spratly Islands on  July 11, 2012 Wednesday evening, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

The shoal is off the Philippine island of Palawan.

No one was injured or killed in the accident and the navy was now organizing a rescue, the statement said, but gave no further details.

The Philippines said it was trying to confirm the reports and would offer assistance to any vessel in distress.

"We have to find out why that ship was there, why it ran aground, whether it was an accident or whatever," Defense Secretary Voltaire Gamin told reporters.

"If we have to offer assistance to help them get out of that place, we will assist them," he added.

The Sydney Morning Herald on Friday quoted Western diplomatic sources as saying the frigate, which has been discouraging fishing boats from the Philippines from entering the area, was "thoroughly stuck".

China says it has sovereign rights to all the South China Sea, believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits, including areas close to the coastlines of other countries and hundreds of kilometers (miles) from its own landmass.

But Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines also claim parts of the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea).

The Spratlys are one of the biggest island chains in the area.

The rival claims have long made the South China Sea one of Asia's potential military flashpoints, and tensions have escalated over the past year.

The Philippines and Vietnam have complained China is becoming increasingly aggressive in its actions in the area, such as harassing fishermen, and also through bullying diplomatic tactics.

AFP

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DOTC is asking for $13.28 Million Dollars loan from Korea

Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is asking the Korean government for a $13.29-million loan to improve the navigation system at the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental province.

Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Mar Roxas said the fund, which will come in the form of a loan from the Economic Cooperation Development Fund of the Republic of Korea, will be coursed through the Export-Import Bank of Korea.

Among the items needed to upgrade the soon to be the (Cagayan de Oro) Laguindingan International Airport's navigation system are the following:

• Instrument landing system
• Doppler radar
• Communications system
• Automated weather observation system
• Electrical works for the air navigation system
• Aeronautical ground lighting system.

Roxas said that the entire Laguindigan International airport development project is almost finished.

He said that about 90 percent of its civil works have been completed by the South Korea-based Yooshin Engineering Corp., the SCHEMA Konsult, Inc., and the Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd.

He said that economic activity in the region is projected to soar to as the airport is envisioned to be a major trunkline air facility.

Cagayan de Oro City Shopping Mall

"This will be a major trading and tourism hub. Its operation would have a multiplier effect in the region, and this would mean more jobs for the people," he noted.

The Laguindingan airport is being eyed to become the main airport of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities (Cagayan-Iligan Corigidor) in the northern Mindanao, as a counterpart of the Davao international airport in Southern Mindanao.

The government is expecting the airport's operation to boost Mindanao's potential as a national food basket being an exporter of the country's major agricultural exports such as banana and coconut.

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