Live fire, combat readiness drills carried out at Balikatan 2023

Live firing and combat readiness drills were among the joint military exercises conducted by Philippine and US troops in various locations in the country as part of the biggest Balikatan exercise to date.

According to Maki Pulido's report on “24 Oras” on Thursday, Javelin surface-to-air missiles were fired at targets at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, while free-fallers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Special Operations Command and US Special Operations Command Pacific landed in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija after jumping off from the US Air Force’s Osprey floating 9,000 feet above.

Cyberdefense security exercises were also conducted for the first time at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

“What you’re seeing here in ‘Balikatan’ and ‘Salaknib’ is an expression of us trying to commit to enabling and assisting the Philippine military in being able to protect their national sovereignty and protect the territorial integrity of the Philippines,” said US Army Pacific Commanding General Charles Flynn.

“We are making sure that the Philippines and the entire country, not just the Armed Forces of the Philippines, would be ready in case a threat would come to our shores,” AFP Commander Lieutenant General Romeo Brawner added.

External defense will be at the center of the 38th Annual Balikatan Exercise in view of China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea. Among the highlights of the joint drills will be the live-fire exercises on April 26 in Zambales, which is near Scarborough Shoal.

“It’s not aimed against a particular country...This is part of the MDT [Mutual Defense Treaty]. We are invoking that treaty for combined operations involving the US and the AFP,” said AFP spokesperson Colonel Medel Aguilar.

Meanwhile, the Philippines and the US earlier affirmed their alliance during a recent meeting between US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Senior Undersecretary and Defense Officer-in-Charge Carlito Galvez Jr. at the Pentagon.

“We remain deeply committed to our alliance obligations….And as we've made abundantly clear, the mutual defense treaty applies to armed attacks on either of our armed forces, our public vessels, or aircraft anywhere in the South China Sea,” said Austin.

China has expressed “serious concern” and “strong dissatisfaction” with the joint statement, saying it “distorts and smears China’s legitimate maritime law enforcement actions” in the disputed waters.

But for Professor Aries Arugay, chairperson of UP Political Science Department, there is nothing to question as the Philippines’ 2016 arbitral win already establishes ownership of the highly contested territory.

“Sa tingin ko tama na siguro yung polisiya na iniisip parati ng gobyerno pano mag re-react ang China at pano siya hindi gagalitin o hindi siya maasar because it tried it and it backfired. China continues to be aggressive,” said Arugay.

(I think it’s high time the government stops its policies that are always concerned with China’s reaction. Because it tried and it backfired. China continues to be aggressive.) — Sundy Locus/BM, GMA Integrated News