Pag-asa Island: “Know your Philippine Features at the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG)”
Pag-asa literally means “Hope” and internationally known as “Thitu Island”.
With an area of 37.2 hectares, it is the largest of the Philippine-administered islands. It lies about 480 kilometers (300 miles) west of Puerto Princesa City.
The Philippine government formally established the Municipality of Kalayaan on Pag-asa Island on 11 June 1978, by virtue of Presidential Decree 1596 series of 1978.
Pag-asa Island is low-lying, with trees, shrubs and sand bars. It is surrounded by coral reefs, populated with rusting wrecks visible above water.
The island has a 1,300 meters (1,400 yard) airstrip called Rancudo Airfield, which serves both military and civilian air transportation needs.
PAF regularly sends aircraft to Palawan for reconnaissance and reprovisioning missions in the Philippine-controlled regions in the Spratly chain. The airstrip on the island makes such important missions easier.
The island serves as a town proper to the municipality of Kalayaan. The civilian population which in 2018, numbered about 184, was introduced in 2001. They live in a few dozen houses, scattered throughout the island.
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