PH, Australia to hold Visayas drills in August
Australia and the Philippines will pursue ongoing military drills, with outgoing Australian Ambassador HK Yu noting that activities have not only become more numerous but also more complex.
“Not only are we completing more MCAs (maritime cooperative activities), they’re also becoming more complex,” Yu said at an event marking the ninth anniversary of the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in favor of the Philippines.
It was one of the last engagements of Yu before the arrival of Canberra’s newly named envoy, Marc Innes-Brown.
“Foreign Minister [Penny] Wong has announced the next Australian Ambassador to the Philippines. Mabuhay my dear friend and Ambassador-designate Marc Innes-Brown PSM,” Yu posted on X on Thursday.
“I wish you all the best over the next three years as you advance the Australia-Philippine Strategic Partnership,” said Yu, who announced the end of her tour of duty last month.
Aside from the United States, Australia is so far the only other country that has a visiting forces agreement with the Philippines. There are ongoing talks to make Japan the third.
Good job
On July 6, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong thanked Yu and acknowledged her contributions to bilateral ties with the Philippines.
“Australia and the Philippines share a long partnership and a deep friendship built on mutual trust and cooperation, and a commitment to a peaceful, stable and prosperous region,” Wong said from Canberra.
Wong underscored the importance of Australian-Philippine relations, especially with over 400,000 people of Filipino descent making up Australia’s fifth-largest migrant community.
Yu said military cooperation will continue with the second phase of Exercise “Kasangga” (Ally or Partner, in the vernacular) 2025, to be called Exercise “Alon” (wave) next month in the Visayas region. Canada and the United States will also participate.
Yu said that Exercise Alon will be the Australian Defense Forces’ largest exercise outside of Australia this year. “It is clear our defense relationship is at an historic high,” she said.
Exercise Kasangga was a monthlong activity and was the first foreign military exercise to be held in Mindanao.
Philippine Army Spokesperson Col. Louie Dema-ala said the Kasangga 2025-1 was held at Camp Kibaritan in Bukidnon from May 19 to June 24.
Terrain knowledge
It involved troops from the Army’s 4th and 10th Infantry Divisions and the Combat Engineer Regiment of the Australian Army, Dema-ala said.
The exercise, the first involving foreign forces in Mindanao, included jungle and urban operations, breaching operations, tactical casualty care, jungle survival training, as well as mobility, counter-mobility and reconnaissance operations.
Last year, two iterations of Kasangga, involving the Army’s the PA’s 9th and 5th Infantry Division, were held in northern Luzon and the Bicol region.
