By Henry Empeño | March 20, 2025

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — An American-era island-fortress here which had since been developed into a popular tourism destination is being eyed by the Department of Defense (DND) as a military reservation after noting that the strategic island could be used in illegal activities related to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO).

The DND broached the idea of turning the 42-hectare Grande Island and its smaller neighbor Chiquita into military outposts following the arrest on the island on Wednesday of a Chinese national suspected of espionage and other operations that threaten national security.

In a statement posted on its website on March 20, the DND said authorities arrested on March 19 Chinese national Ye Tianwu for violations under Republic Act 8799, or the Securities Regulation Code, and RA 10175, also known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. 

Ye Tianwu, variously known as Qiu Feng and Qing Feng, is reportedly a shareholder of a company leasing Grande Island. He was arrested by a composite team from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the National Bureau of Investigation, and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

In the process of serving the warrant, authorities also arrested Chinese nationals Xu Xining, Ye Xiaocan, Su Anlong, and He Peng; Cambodian national Ang Deck/Dick; and Filipinos Melvin Mañosa Aguillon, Jr. and Jeffrey Espiridion, who were identified as employees of Ang Deck/Dick.

The arrest, the DND said, “exposes the unlawful nature, including suspected espionage and kidnapping activities related to POGO, for which some foreign nationals are using Grande Island under the guise of private enterprises.”

“Such activities, which may be part of larger criminal network operations, pose a serious threat to our national security,” it added.

With this, the DND said it “looks forward to working with the concerned agencies, including the SBMA, in exploring the possibility of declaring Grande Island, along with nearby Chiquita Island, as military reservations.”

“This will ultimately help secure the operations of the Subic Special Economic Zone, including the Riviera Wharf and the Subic Bay International Airport, in consonance with the ongoing development of the naval operating base of the Philippine Navy to strengthen and maintain our strategic presence along our western seaboard,” it also said. 

Grande Island has long been held to be of strategic importance because of its location at the mouth of Subic Bay, a former American military base, and before that, a Spanish naval outpost.

During the American period, Grande Island was Fort Wint—outfitted with five gun-batteries to protect the U.S. naval base and dry dock in Olongapo, prevent Japanese forces from using the Subic harbor as supply base, and provide early warning of enemy ships and aircraft en route to Bataan and Manila Bay.

Grande Island became a tourism attraction after the turnover of Subic to the Philippine government in 1992, and was soon leased out to investor groups starting in 2002 to further develop it as a topnotch tourism draw.

A proposal for 80 ultra-high end housing units to be perched on water along the coastline of Grande and Chiquita was frozen by the SBMA in 2019 following findings that the ownership of the leasing company was changed to give corporate control to an incoming Chinese-owned firm without consent from the Subic agency.

As early as August 2019, the Philippine Navy had already warned of security risks in allowing Chinese investors to develop Grande and Chiquita, along with Fuga Island in the Strait of Luzon, because of their strategic importance.

It pointed out that the Philippine Navy has already developed in Subic a home port for its warships involved in operations at disputed waters in the South China Sea and had “recently taken an interest in fending off Chinese investment in the defunct (Hanjin-Subic) shipyard.”

The Philippine Navy formally opened its Naval Operating Base Subic in March 2022. It is now the primary homeport for the Navy’s larger warships, including its newest frigates and patrol vessels. 

PHOTO: The Grande Island and its smaller neighbor Chiquita guard the entrance to the Subic Bay Freeport (Wikipedia photo)