Kalayaan sightings up

Sightings of foreign vessels in the Kalayaan group of islands off Palawan have increased by 39 percent, from 616 in 1999 to 858 last year, a consolidated Navy maritime surveillance report revealed.

According to the report, 102 of the 858 vessels seen in the area last year were Vietnamese boats. The rest were Chinese vessels and unidentified ones.

The sightings, the report said, peaked between April and August when an average 16 foreign vessels were spotted.

In June last year, the Philippine government requested Vietnamese authorities, in a note to the Viet ambassador in Manila, to "take necessary action and address the incursion."

A Vietnamese vessel docked for more than two months off Parola Island in the disputed Spratlys and left only a week before Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong arrived in Manila last Wednesday for a three-day state visit. — Pia Lee-Brago