Last few times someone attempted to operate from this entity they were met with hostile action from China.
MANILA, Philippines -- The emergency medical evacuation of a sick amateur radio enthusiast from Pag-asa Island has been delayed for days after a Chinese naval vessel reportedly harassed a Philippine Air Force patrol flight in the Spratlys on Monday, forcing the cancellation of flights to the disputed territory.
The incident would be the latest in a long string of run-ins over the Spratlys, where China has embarked on an aggressive reclamation and construction spree on disputed islets and reefs, and follows an April 13 incident where a Chinese coast guard vessel fired a water cannon on Filipino fishermen in Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.
Leo Almazan, a member of the ham radio Mabuhay DX Group, which is licensed by the National Telecommunications Commission and whose members are of Filipino ancestry, told InterAksyon.com they had gone to Pag-asa to set up an amateur radio operations and test a portable solar power system in coordination with the Philippine Navy Research and Development Center, as well as conduct a “mini medical mission,” as one of the team members is a doctor from Batangas.
“We arrived April 17 and have been operating there since then,” he said.
The group’s call sign, DX0P, “is to tell not only the amateur radio world but also the rest of the world that Pag-asa is sovereign Philippine territory,” Almazan stressed.
However, over the weekend, one of the team members, Chito Pastor, came down with a kidney infection from drinking the highly saline local water after the supply of drinking water the ham radio enthusiasts had brought ran out.
The morning of Monday, April 20, Almazan said the Philippine Navy was getting ready to send an Islander aircraft to fly Pastor off Pag-asa for medical treatment.
However, the mercy flight did not push through after a Chinese frigate “fired an illumination round on a PAF patrol aircraft earlier.”
Although the aircraft was cleared to fly to Pag-asa Wednesday morning, it developed engine problems and “now we have to wait for maintenance to fix it and try again tomorrow,” Almazan said.
However, he later said a message from Navy headquarters informed them that a civilian aircraft has been cleared to fly the medical mission Thursday morning.
In the meantime, he said, blood has begun showing in Pastor’s urine and “we are running out of pain medication” for their stricken team member.
