The Department of National Defense is proceeding with the acquisition of 300 hectares at the Phividec Industrial Estate in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, to build a naval base that would serve as the Philippine Navy’s center of operations in Northern Mindanao and the Visayas. Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said the Navy needs a dockyard at Phividec to base eight frigates built by South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, with four frigates already commissioned and four more scheduled to be delivered in two years. The naval base at Phividec would have deep-sea capability for berthing frigates and submarines, and the defense department would have to come up with a financial agreement for land acquisition.
