Marcos inclined to continue joint military drills with Australia

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is inclined to continue joint military exercises with Australian forces to enhance the capabilities of the two countries.

In an interview with reporters in Zambales, Marcos was asked what his points of discussion would be with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who will visit the Philippines next month.

"We will be discussing for sure also the continuation of this kind of joint exercise to increase the capabilities again of our... alam naman ninyo pagka maganda ang coordination lalong-lalo na pag sa military, pagka, napakalaki ng multiplier effect. That's why it's important that we continue that," Marcos said.

"I'm sure we will come up with new strategies and some new ideas, agreements, in terms of partnerships between our two countries," the President said, noting that the Philippines and Australia have a common concern in the region.

The President was in Zambales for the amphibious landing military exercise involving the Philippines, Australia, and the United States.

Marcos said that the large-scale military exercise was among the "continuing effort to strengthen our capabilities and to have a closer working relationship with the militaries of our neighbors around the region."

"I think it is an important aspect of how we prepare for any eventuality considering that there have been so many events that attest to the volatility of the region," Marcos said.

"This kind of exercise, this kind of close strategic cooperation between countries around the region is extremely important and I think we have demonstrated that today and to see how well our troops work together," he added.

He said that the working relationship between the military forces' of Philippines and Australia, as well as that of the United States, should be strengthened.

According to the Embassy of Australia, the exercise marks the second and final phase of amphibious action after the air assault exercise in Palawan earlier this week.

It added that this is the first time that Philippines and Australia have conducted Exercise Alon, which forms part of Australia’s Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2023 program.

The combined amphibious assault exercise seeks to enhance the conduct of combined operations and improve tactics, techniques, and procedures to ensure the effective use of all combat arms integrated via force-level command and control. —VAL, GMA Integrated News