The Philippine military on Tuesday assured its readiness to safeguard all initiatives involving the exploration and development of natural resources within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS), said the military will provide security to government personnel and private companies engaged in oil exploration activities.

“Your Philippine Navy and Armed Forces are prepared to safeguard and support any national government initiative to utilize the natural resources within our exclusive economic zone,” Trinidad said, referring to the upcoming drilling operations under Phase 4 of the Malampaya gas-to-power project.

“We are prepared to provide protection to any other party that will be working with the Philippine government and to provide also security against any interference from any foreign power,” Trinidad added.

“Without going into details, it includes a full package that we could provide,” he said.

The Department of Energy (DOE) earlier announced the contract of the drillship Noble Viking, in collaboration with Prime Energy — a natural gas exploration and development firm and subsidiary of Prime Infrastructure Capital, Inc. — to begin drilling operations at the Malampaya gas field in the WPS.

The drillship arrived in Palawan on 19 June to support the government’s Malampaya Phase 4 Project.

According to the DOE, the rig’s arrival in the Philippines has been rescheduled from the end of May to the second half of June.

“This delay is due to the extended drilling operations currently underway in Malaysia,” the DOE explained.

The current effort targets three new wells—Camago-3, Malampaya East-1, and Bagong Pag-asa-1—to extend the Malampaya gas supply.

Malampaya currently supplies between 1.2 and 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, a decrease from its previous output due to dwindling reserves. The DOE aims to increase production to between 1.5 and 1.7 GW.

In addition to Malampaya, the DOE is intensifying exploration efforts in other areas of the country, particularly in the East Palawan and Sulu Sea basins, where up to five service contracts are in various stages of awarding.