MANILA (Kyodo) — The Philippines is considering building a new coast guard fleet base in Subic Bay, a strategic harbor facing the South China Sea that used to host a U.S. Navy base, the country’s coast guard chief said Tuesday.

Admiral Ronnie Gavan, commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard, said the search for a location to build port facilities that can accommodate bigger ships is part of the policy platform of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., as the country continues to face Chinese incursions into its territorial waters.

Manila last month announced the acquisition of five more 97-meter multi-role vessels from Japan for its coast guard.

“On the issue of a port facility for these bigger ships, we are working towards the establishment of our fleet base in Subic,” Gavan told Japanese media in the Philippine capital. “And we are also looking at other areas” within Manila Bay, Gavan said.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency has conducted studies on the establishment of a coast guard facility in Subic, which boasts a naturally deep harbor aside from its strategic location. The coast guard headquarters is currently located in Manila’s Port Area.

The coast guard already has two Japanese-built 97-meter vessels which it uses for missions including in the hotly contested South China Sea.

The first of the five additional vessels from Japan is expected to be delivered in 2027.

Gavan said an amended 2017 memorandum of cooperation with Japan covering the new acquisitions will be signed on Dec. 16 during the ASEAN-Japan summit in Tokyo. The coast guard chief said he was asked to join the trip.

Aside from its equipment and stations, the coast guard is also beefing up its personnel, with 4,000 recruited this year and another 4,000 expected next year.

“We expect that we should be manned with at least 105,000 coast guards,” Gavan said.

The Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have competing claims in the South China Sea. A 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling invalidated China’s basis for its claim, but Beijing has disregarded the ruling. 