Philippines, US to hold naval drills outside territorial seas

MANILA, Philippines —  For the first time in 39 years, combined naval drills in the annual Balikatan military exercises between the Philippines and the United States will be held beyond the country’s 12-nautical-mile territorial waters in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) next month.

France will be participating in the “group sail” in international waters, where Chinese military and coast guard ships have been roaming around and blocking Philippine rotation and resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal and other features within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Australia and Japan will not be directly participating in the naval exercises, but are sending observers to the event that will see the Philippine Navy, US Navy, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), US Coast Guard alongside the French Navy.

“A group (sail) is a maritime exercise and the events that take place there are a combination of division tactics, search and rescue, board and search and seizure exercises, gunnery exercises, qualifications, well deck operations, those are types of exercises so they will be moving from Point A to Point B,” Balikatan executive agent Col. Michael Logico said yesterday.

“We will be utilizing the western side of Palawan, extending beyond our 12 nautical miles so this is also a new thing… We’ve done group sails before… In previous exercises, we’ve been limited to just 12 nautical miles, now we are encouraging or we are venturing outwards,” he said.

The French Navy, Logico said, is sending a frigate for the naval drills set in the early part of the 2024 Balikatan exercises, scheduled from the third week of April to the first week of May.

He added that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will have at least four ships participating in the group sail as part of freedom of navigation operations in international waters.

According to him, the group sail will be carried out with or without the presence of Chinese vessels in the area because the Balikatan “is a demonstration of our combat readiness, the entire intent is to deter and if we cannot deter, we will defend, and when we defend, the objective is to win.”

Logico, noting that the AFP is and has been