US, PH kick off largest military exercises

Military officers wears the Balikatan patch during the opening ceremony for a 12-day joint military drill, at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, east of Manila on March 28, 2022. (Photo by JAM STA ROSA / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — The annual Balikatan exercises, with nearly 9,000 United States and Philippine military personnel taking part, officially kicked off on Monday.

The Philippine Army, the majority of whom are participating in this year’s bilateral war games, vowed to utilize the exercises to fully develop the brigade combat team as a strike-anywhere rapid deployment unit that could respond to any threat.

In his speech declaring the onset of the two-week Balikatan exercise, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Andres Centino said that the holding of the war games was geared toward effectively securing the country and the Indo-Pacific region.

“In light of the volatile, uncertain and ambiguous nature of the security setting that we are faced and the fast-changing advancements in warfare, it has indeed been a shared responsibility to address our vulnerabilities and ensure that both our armed forces are able to promptly and effectively respond to any crisis or emergency under all circumstances,” Centino pointed out.

He added, “[Balikatan] exercise shall certainly strengthen the interoperability of both of our Armed Forces for mutual defense, humanitarian assistance and disaster response and decisively contribute to the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region.”

He noted that it was a remarkable development to be able to have 8,900 participants, 3,800 AFP and 5,100 US military personnel in the war games compared to last year’s exercise which had been limited to some 600 participants confined in a training bubble due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No Balikatan exercise was held in 2020.

‘Deepening alliance’

According to Centino, the magnitude of this year’s Balikatan exercise is “testament to the deepening alliance of our two countries” and “unwavering commitment and support to uphold our obligations to the mutual defense treaty.”

He said that the two-week war games, which culminate on April 8, would involve staff exercises and joint and combined interoperability exercises as well as humanitarian assistance projects in various venues in Northern and Central Luzon.

This year’s exercise will feature drills on maritime security, amphibious, live-fire training, urban, aviation, counterterrorism, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.

For her part, Philippines Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Heather Variava said that Balikatan is “an opportunity for the United States and the Philippines to reaffirm our commitment to even more robust ties and to our relationship that remains highly relevant as the world faces new and continuing challenges.”

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