MANILA, Philippines — Due to the government’s shift of focus to external defense, the Philippine Army’s first-ever large-scale exercise will involve a simulation of defense against foreign invasions.
Army chief Lt. Gen. Roy Galido said the ongoing Combined Army Training Exercise (Catex) entails large-scale formations, moving units from Visayas and Mindanao to Luzon to “simulate a possible security situation that someone will occupy our country.”
“We are doing this so that our units can practice their new duty to defend our land,” Galido said in Filipino during a public briefing.
Galido also said these drills will include how to sustain the provisions of large-scale deployment.
The Catex Katihan, held in Camp O’Donnell in Capas, Tarlac since March 11, will involve around 4,000 to 5,000 troops from Army units in Visayas and Mindanao.
This exercise comes as Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. ordered the implementation of the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC) to develop the country’s capability to protect and secure its entire territory and exclusive economic zone.
READ: Military begins implementation of new archipelagic defense strategy
The CADC is also in line with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s directive for the armed forces to focus on external defense.
The Philippine military is still dealing with the communist insurgency nationwide and jihadists primarily in Mindanao.
However, it said that the New People’s Army has significantly weakened, while terrorist groups in Mindanao like the Islamic State-linked Daulah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf Group are also diminishing.
The government is now zeroing in on the dispute between Manila and Beijing in the West Philippine Sea, with maritime activities in Ayungin Shoal and Scarborough Shoal becoming the flashpoint of tension between both countries.
Increased military presence and the development of military structures are also being planned in Batanes, the northernmost island province facing Taiwan.
The Philippines also gave the United States access to its three military bases in the northern parts of the country relatively near the self-ruled island which China believes to be a renegade state subject to reunification.