Balikatan Exercise Director Chris McPhillips says the purpose of the exercises is to develop cooperation among Filipino, American, and Australian soldiers
FOR THE SOLDIERS. United States Brigadier General Chris McPhillips speaks to reporters at Philippine military headquarters Camp Aguinaldo. Photo by Rambo Talabong/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – After US Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo gave
an assurance that his country would defend the Philippines in case of any armed
attack in the South China Sea, will the joint exercises of the two countries be
modified just in case?
Rambo Talabong @rambotalabong
No, according to United States Balikatan
Exercise Director Brigadier General Chris McPhillips.
"While each year we change Balikatan a little bit, like
the general said, to introduce new capabilities and training, Balikatan is not
aimed at any other nation in the region," McPhillips said in the joint
exercises' opening press conference on Monday, April 1, after being asked
whether the exercises have been modified given Pompeo's recent statement.
The 35th Balikatan
exercises of the Philippine and US militaries opened on Monday,
with renewed promises for cooperation amid increasing tensions in the region.
The Balikatan includes live-fire drills and
amphibious landing exercises in Tarlac and Zambales provinces in the Philippines ' Luzon
island region.
HAPPENING NOW: Balikatan 2019 opening press briefing led by PH Exercise Director LtGen Gilbert Gapay and US Exercise Director BGen Chris McPhillips. @rapplerdotcom
The increasingly complex security scenarios have led Philippine Defense
Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to call for the review of the longtime allies' 68-year-old
Mutual Defense Treaty, which for him remains "vague."
On March 1, the Philippines
got verbal clarification on the agreement from Pompeo, who said that "any
armed attack on any Philippine forces, aircraft, or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defense
obligations."This has not been translated to the joint
exercises, McPhillips said, because the purpose of the exercises is not to
battle any country, but to develop cooperation among Filipino, American, and
Australian soldiers.The 2019 Balikatan is one of the biggest in
recent years, with 4,000 Filipino, 3,500 American, and 50 Australian soldiers
banding together until April 12, when the exercises conclude.Philippine Balikatan Exercise Director
Lieutenant General Gilbert Gapay added
that Balikatan training scenarios are "generic in nature."
This year, we focus on global terrorism,
and of course for our part is territorial defense, and of course, disaster
response, so those are the 3 major capabilities which we would like to enhance
in this Balikatan exercise, so everything is a generic scenario," Gapay
said.
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