(Eagle News) – More than 7,000 military personnel from the US and the Philippines are set to work together in this year’s the annual “Balikatan” exercises which started Monday, April 1, aimed at strengthening interoperability between both countries’ armed forces.
Balikatan is an exercise between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States, and also involves participation from Australia, which will last until April 12.
Balikatan is a Tagalog phrase for “shoulder-to-shoulder,” characterizing the spirit of the exercise and “represents the partnership between the U.S. and the Philippines,” according to the US Embassy.
This year’s Balikatan exercises would focus on maritime security and amphibious capabilities, as well as multinational interoperability through military exchanges.
“Balikatan will strengthen our armed forces, improve our interoperability, and facilitate a robust exchange of ideas and best practices,” said US Ambassador to Manila Sung Kim in his speech.
During this year’s exercises, U.S. and Philippine forces will conduct amphibious operations, live-fire training, urban operations, aviation operations, and counterterrorism response. All events will take place in Luzon and Palawan, according to the US Embassy.
This will also be the first Exercise Balikatan to incorporate the USS Wasp paired with the United States Marines Corps’ F-35B Lightning II aircraft. Together they represent an increase in military capability committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“Participating in Balikatan demonstrates their ability to forward deploy in support of an ally should a crisis or natural disaster occur,” an earlier release from the US Embassy said.
This year’s Balikatan exercises will also bring together ASEAN members for an International Observers Program.
Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United Kingdom already sent observers to the program.
“The program aims to promote greater defense cooperation with ASEAN and other key allies and partners, show multinational coordination where the observers can mutually exchange meaningful ideas and best practices, and showcase the joint and combined air, sea, and ground operation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. Armed Forces,” a US Embassy statement said.
The US Embassy said that these exercises will “strengthen international partnerships and the participating militaries’ abilities to rapidly respond to crises throughout the Indo-Pacific region.”
The start of the scheduled Balikatan exercises came about as the Philippine government filed a diplomatic protest against China over the presence of Chinese vessels near Pagasa Island.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Department of Foreign Affairs in particular noted the presence of 275 Chinese vessels from January to March this year.
He did not say when the protest was filed.