USPACOM chief Harris to visit PH amid sea row

UNITED STATES Pacific Command chief Admiral Harry Harris will visit the Philippines from Tuesday to Thursday to discuss security concerns amid China’s sweeping expansion in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).

Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs chief Colonel Noel Detoyato said on Tuesday that Harris will visit Camp Aguinaldo on Wednesday afternoon to meet Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and AFP chief General Hernando Iriberri.

“He will be accorded full military honors before he meets the chief of staff and discuss some important matters,” Detoyato said.

Harris will also meet with Gazmin “to discuss bilateral security concerns and gain local perspective on the security situation in the Pacific because that’s where his troops are deployed,” he added.

Detoyato could not say if the issues on the South China Sea would be tackled and said there was “no specific mention of any particular security issue.”

Also part of Harris’ itinerary is to visit Western Command in Palawan and meet its commander Vice Admiral Alexander Lopez.

Wescom holds jurisdiction of the Philippine claims in the West Philippine Sea.

Detoyato could not say if Harris would also join a surveillance flight over South China Sea just like what US Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Swift did during his visit to the Philippines last month.

Harris assumed the leadership of USPACOM, the US armed forces in the Pacific, only last May.

“He has to get a very good perspective on what is happening on the ground. That is why he wanted to visit Adm. Lopez so that he can be personally briefed by the commander,” Detoyato said.

“These meetings are important because there’s such thing as military diplomacy where we talk about interoperability and especially we are a disaster prone area and most of the time if there are disasters they are the first ones to come,” Detoyato said.

The US has repeatedly emphasized that it does not take any sides to the sea dispute. The Philippines is one of the claimants of the South China Sea, along with other nations Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.

China claims most parts of the sea and has been building artificial islands in at least seven reefs of the disputed sea in recent months.