MANILA - The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on April 18 it will participate for the first time in an annual joint military exercise conducted with the US.
More than 16,700 Filipino and American troops will take part in 2024’s drills, which kick off on April 22. The exercises will be focused on the northern and western parts of the archipelago nation – near the potential flashpoints of the South China Sea and Taiwan.
Beijing claims almost the entire waterway and considers self-ruled Taiwan part of its territory.
Other countries, including the Philippines, have overlapping claims to parts of the sea. The US has no territorial claim over the waters or features, but regularly conducts patrols there.
The US has been deepening its defence cooperation with regional allies, including the Philippines, as it seeks to counter China’s growing assertiveness.
Rear-Admiral Armando Balilo, a PCG spokesman, said on April 18 that it would be the first time PCG vessels join the drills dubbed Balikatan, which means “shoulder to shoulder” in Tagalog.
Previously, PCG boats had patrolled the waters around the exercises to prevent interlopers.
Six vessels would participate, Mr Balilo said, including four 44m multi-role response boats and two larger patrol vessels.
PCG’s special operations force would also “undertake joint interoperability exercises” with the Philippine Navy and their counterparts from Australia, France and the US.
PCG, which patrols the country’s exclusive economic zone and carries out supply missions to remote outposts in the South China Sea, has accused China’s coast guard and other boats of shadowing and blocking its vessels.
There have been several minor collisions between Philippine and Chinese coast guard vessels in recent months, raising fears of a wider conflict that could involve the US and other allies.
There have also been multiple incidents involving the China Coast Guard water-cannoning Philippine vessels, at times injuring Filipino crew members.
The Balikatan drills will involve a simulation of an armed recapture of an island off the western province of Palawan, near the South China Sea, and the sinking of a vessel off the northern province of Ilocos Norte, several hundred kilometres from Taiwan.
For the first time, the drills will go beyond the Philippines’ territorial waters, which extend about 22km from its coastline, Philippine Colonel Michael Logico told reporters on April 17.
The US Coast Guard will also take part in the exercise. AFP
