Philippine - US held Military Drills "Exercise Balikatan"

Philippine Col. Maria Imelda Perez Dalupang (center), executive officer, Office of the Surgeon General shares a moment’s conversation with Philippine Dr. Gloria Balboa, regional director, Center for Health Development, Region IV-B. On the left is U.S. Navy Capt. David A. Lane, force surgeon, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific. The leaders prepare for a medical symposium that brought Philippine and U.S. medical and veterinary professionals together to exchange knowledge and ideas in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Republic of the Philippines April 10. 

The Philippines hailed the start of major war games with the U.S. on April 16 as a timely boost to their military alliance, amid a tense territorial dispute with China.

More than 6,000 Filipino and U.S. soldiers will take part in the 12 days of exercises across the Philippines, which come as the host nation is embroiled in a dispute with China over rival claims to the South China Sea.

At an opening ceremony for the exercises in Manila, Philippines' armed forces chief Jessie Dellosa did not specifically mention China but said the war games highlighted strong U.S. support for its weaker ally at a crucial moment.

"Given the international situation we are in, I say that this exercise, in coordination with all those we had in the past, (is) timely and mutually beneficial," Dellosa said. "The conduct of this annual event reflects the aspirations to further relations with our strategic ally, a commitment that has to be nurtured especially in the context of the evolving challenges in the region."

China and Taiwan claim nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters approaching the coasts of the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia.

The competing claims have, for decades, made the sea — where there are shipping routes vital for global trade and which is believed to hold huge deposits of fossil fuels — a potential flashpoint for military conflict.

U.S. Army Col. Philip Young, deputy commander of Combined Joint Civil Military Operations Task Force (left); Philippine Navy Capt. Rosauro Sarmiento, commander of CJCMOTF; Catalina Maming, captain of Barangay Santa Cruz; and U.S. Marine Capt. Amelia Griffith, team leader of Marine Civil Affairs Team, CJCMOTF, prepare for a Palawan tradition called Pundasyon, where coins and stones are place in the foundation of a building March 19.

While diplomatic efforts have kept the dispute from flaring into violence over recent decades, the Philippines and Vietnam said last year that China was becoming increasingly aggressive in staking its claim to the sea.

The Philippines accused Chinese vessels of firing warning shots at Filipino fishermen, harassing an oil exploration vessel and laying markers in areas close to Philippine landmass.

Tensions spiked again last week when the Philippines sent its biggest warship to a tiny shoal about 230 kilometers (140 miles) west of the county's main island of Luzon, where eight Chinese fishing boats had been seen.

China deployed three vessels to stop Philippine personnel from arresting the fishermen, and the dispute escalated with both countries launching protests and trading accusations that the other was violating their sovereign territory.

While the fishing boats left Scarborough Shoal over the weekend, both nations are continuing to assert their sovereignty over the area, which is many hundreds of kilometers from the nearest major Chinese landmass.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino said April 16 that Balikatan had nothing to do with the Scarborough Shoal dispute and there was no reason for the war games to provoke China.

However, the Philippine military has confirmed some of the drills will be held just off the western coast of Palawan in waters facing the South China Sea.

The exercises are also being held as the U.S. is rebuilding its military presence across the Pacific, partly to counter the growing political, economic and military might of China.

The director for the U.S. side for Balikatan, Marine Brig. Gen. Frederick Padilla, confirmed April 16 that the exercises were part of U.S. President Barack Obama's military plan for the region.

"The president of the United States has stated that it is the desire of our country to be engaged more in the Pacific region. That includes working with the Filipino government and the armed forces," he told reporters.

But Padilla insisted the exercises were not meant as a warning to China amid its dispute with the Philippines over Scarborough Shoal.

"This exercise is, from our standpoint, not linked to any particular situation," Padilla said.

China, which has expressed irritation at the increased U.S. focus on Asia, said April 16 that it was displeased with the war games.

"The major trend of the times in this region is peace and development,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said in Beijing. “Military exercise does not represent the major call of the times.”

Defense News