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MANILA – A group of student volunteers who recently went on a so-called patriotic voyage in the West Philippine Sea claimed that China is building a submarine base in one of the reefs it controls.Kalayaan Atin Ito said China is building a submarine harbor in Panganiban Reef (Mischief Reef), which is just 135 nautical miles from Palawan and 700 nautical miles from China&#x27;s nearest landmass.&#x27;&#x27;This evil project does not concern the Filipino people alone but the entire humanity including the peace-loving Chinese people,&#x27;&#x27; the group said on its Facebook page.The volunteers recently finished their freedom voyage. Initially planned to involve 10,000 volunteers, the voyage pushed through last December 24 with just 47 people participating, including their leader, retired Marine captain Nicanor Faeldon.The group said China has effectively maintained a &#x27;&#x27;triangle militarized zone&#x27;&#x27; near the three reefs it occupies – Fiery Cross (Kagitingan), Subi (Zamora), and Mishief (Panganiban).&#x27;&#x27;We have lost to China the heart of the Kalayaan Island Group municipality through their triangle militarized zone from Fiery Cross Reef to Subi Reef and Mischief Reef. Inside this triangle, are the other military bases that China has built,&#x27;&#x27; it said.&quot;Our fishermen too cannot fish in [these] fishing grounds. In fact, in the entire West Philippine Sea, we have lost its value as a fishing ground to China.&quot;The volunteers said while they were at the Philippine-held Pag-asa Island (Thitu Island), Chinese coast guard patrol ships and even helicopters regularly monitor the island and were seen from their spot.&#x27;&#x27;Almost everyday, Chinese coastguard helicopter patrolled the shores of the Pag-asa island too close that we were able to record it on video through a low tech mobile phone,&#x27;&#x27; the group said.Several photographs taken for Washington&#x27;s Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank on Sept. 8, 2015 show construction on Panganiban Reef.The images show a rectangular area with a retaining wall, 3,000 meters (3,280 yards) long, matching similar work by China on two other reefs, Subi and Fiery Cross, said Greg Poling, director of CSIS&#x27;s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI).&quot;Clearly, what we have seen is going to be a 3,000-meter airstrip and we have seen some more work on what is clearly going to be some port facilities for ships,&quot; he said.Security experts say the strip would be long enough to accommodate most Chinese military aircraft, giving Beijing greater reach into the heart of maritime Southeast Asia, where it has competing claims with several countries. - with Reuters<div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=417890591754492&amp;id=351484555061763&amp;substory_index=0" data-width="500"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=417890591754492&amp;id=351484555061763&amp;substory_index=0">Sa susunod, mas marami na tayo! Sa susunod, kasama na kayo sa larawan na eto. Maghanda na, pag-igtingin pa ang pagkakaisa! Kasarinlan, panindigan!Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Kalayaan-ATIN-ITO-351484555061763/">Kalayaan ATIN ITO</a> on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=417890591754492&amp;id=351484555061763&amp;substory_index=0">Wednesday, 6 January 2016</a></blockquote></div></div>

MANILA – A group of student volunteers who recently went on a so-called patriotic voyage in the West Philippine Sea claimed that China is building a submarine base in one of the reefs it controls.

China building submarine harbor in Panganiban Reef: group

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China building submarine harbor in Panganiban Reef: group

ABS-CBN News

Published January 07, 2016 01:05 PM PHT

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kalayaan atin ito

freedom voyage

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