Philippines, US kick off joint drills amid China concerns
- The drills come on the heels of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr ’s decision last month to expand the US’ access to his country’s military bases
- Over 3,000 Filipino and US soldiers will participate in the three-week exercise with most activities to be held at Fort Magsaysay, the Philippines’ largest military camp
The Philippines and United States launched army-to-army exercises on Monday, with a focus on enhancing the Southeast Asian nation’s ability to protect and defend its territory from external threats.
More than 3,000 Filipino and US soldiers will participate in the three-week long annual exercises called Salaknib, which involve multiple small-arms live-fire exercises, artillery and mortar live-fire events, and construction projects.
“The scenarios would involve the defence of the Philippine archipelago from potential foreign aggressors,” Philippines army chief Lieutenant General Romeo Brawner told reporters following the opening ceremony.
“Since this is an army-to-army exercise, we will focus on defence operations such as air defence and also our defence from the shorelines,” he added.
The majority of activities will take place at Fort Magsaysay, the Philippines’ largest military camp, and one of the five existing sites the US has access to under its Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement with Manila. Under the agreement, the US can use the bases for joint training, pre-positioning of equipment and building of facilities such as runways, fuel storage and military housing, but not to maintain a permanent presence.
China has slammed the expanded agreement, calling it “part of US efforts to encircle and contain China through its military alliance with this country”.