Philippines Eyes Expanded Military Drills With US in April

Ditas Lopez
·1 min read
18

(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines and the US plan to hold what could be their largest military exercises in April, in a show of strength of their alliance amid heightened tensions in the South China Sea.

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The annual exercises called Balikatan will feature “more complex drills” including cyberspace and information warfare, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla said in a briefing Tuesday. Balikatan is a Filipino word that translates to shoulder-to-shoulder.

“We are going to have more exercises in key positions all over the country,” Padilla said. “Aside from quantity, we will heavily lean towards quality training.”

The mutual defense allies held their largest war games in over three decades last year when 17,600 military troops from both countries participated. The exercises included live-fire drills in waters near South China Sea, where Beijing has asserted expansive claims.

The plan for expanded drills comes as US and the Philippines are boosting their security ties in the face of lingering tensions in the contested waters.

The Philippine Navy has monitored about 200 vessels operated by Chinese maritime militia in the South China Sea, Navy spokesperson Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad said in the same briefing. “We have seen them being more aggressive, and that has carried on until now,” Trinidad said.

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