PH, US, Japan hold drills in Luzon Strait
Joint air patrols by the Philippines, the United States and Japan reached the Luzon Strait during a weeklong maritime exercise aimed at strengthening coordination in the West Philippine Sea, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Friday.
This is the first time a joint air patrol reached the strait, and the naval maneuvers took place within a designated operational box near Philippine-garrisoned Mavulis Island (identified in old US maps as Y’ami Island) north of Basco, Batanes, the AFP Public Affairs Office (AFP-PAO) said.
AFP-PAO chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the 15th Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA), held Feb. 23 to Feb. 26, featured air and naval operations west of Mavulis Island, south of the Philippines’ border with Taiwan, but some ways off the area where the two nations had a territorial despute in 2013.
Philippine Navy spokesperson Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad disclosed that a People’s Liberation Army-Navy warship, with bow number 174, was spotted inside the exercise box west of Mavulis Island, but the Chinese warship did not disrupt the exercise.
“It did not conduct any untoward or aggressive movement that would interfere with the serials at sea,” the rear admiral said.
The Army colonel said preparatory activities also included an operational synchronization on Feb. 20, a subject matter expert exchange aboard USS Dewey in Subic, on Feb. 21, and final movement to the operational area on Feb. 22.
The AFP said this was the second MMCA this month, reflecting sustained efforts to improve interoperability and maritime domain awareness with treaty ally the United States and strategic partner Japan.
Multilateral cooperation
The Philippine Navy deployed BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), while the Philippine Air Force sent FA-50 fighter jets, A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft, a C-208B utility plane and a Sokol search-and-rescue helicopter.
The Philippine Coast Guard dispatched BRP Gabriela Silang, while Japan contributed a P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft and the United States deployed guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey and a P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft.
The Navy rear admiral said in an online interview with reporters on Friday that the MMCA was “preplanned, preapproved,” and represents an expansion of previous MMCAs that were conducted off Subic in Zambales, and later in northern Palawan.
“It is a great step forward when we say that we are now doing 360 maritime domain awareness and maritime operations,” the rear admiral said.
The move is part of what he described as a shift toward a “360 capability not only for domain awareness, but even for operations and MMCAs,” as the military aims to cover more areas of the country’s maritime domain.
He stressed that the drills are not aimed at any specific country despite heightened regional tensions.
“All our activities … are not designed for any particular country,” the rear admiral said, adding that the goal is to make the AFP “more modern and more professional” through integration with modern militaries.
He said conducting activities in different parts of the country allows Filipino forces to better familiarize themselves with the country’s maritime territory.
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