Navy officers from PH, Australia kick off maritime exercises

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Navy and the Royal  Australian Navy kicked off Tuesday the 23rd iteration of their bilateral maritime drills.

An opening ceremony of the war games dubbed as “Exercise Lumbas 2023” was held in Subic, Zambales.

First begun in 1998, this year’s “Lumbas” are joined by almost 300 participants from both countries: 191 Australian personnel and 100 from the Philippines.

The BRP Conrado Yap, a Philippine corvette with anti-submarine capability, and Australia’s frigate HMAS Anzac, will also be employed for the drills which will be held in areas of Northern Luzon from July 18 until July 22.

BRP stands for “Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas” (Ship of the Republic of the Philippines) while HMAS means “His Majesty’s Australian Ship.”

Commodore Francisco Tagamolilia, who is the commander of Naval Forces Northern Luzon, highlighted the importance of honing the anti-submarine capability of BRP Conrado Yap to prepare for the arrival of vessels equipped with similar deterrence.

“[W]e have [a] newer ship coming in the future that has anti-submarine capability, so it’s very important to train our personnel on how to maximize the potential and how to use anti-submarine capability,” Tagamolilia told reporters in a chance interview after the event.

“Whether there’s a threat or not, we need to make sure that we know how to use all the capability that we have in our ships,” he pointed out.

Tagamolilia also highlighted the importance of bilateral exercises such as this to bolster interoperability as well as learn from other allies.

“With the expanding role of the Philippine Navy right now with our new capabilities, we need to exchange ideas,” he said.

For his part, Acting Australian Deputy Ambassador to the Philippines James Yeomans said this exercise is another testament of how both countries are working to uphold international law as “strategic partners” and “good friends.”

“This exercise Lumbas is a perfect example of us working together to address the common challenges,” Yeomans also told reporters.

Yeomans also said that this exercise typifies the “steadfast” support of Australia to the arbitral award on the West Philippine Sea which ruled in favor with the Philippines.

“Australia is a steadfast supporter of the arbitral award and Unclos (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea),” Yeomans said.

“We do many things together to demonstrate that,” he stressed. “This is one of the many examples where Australia and the Philippines work together and support international law.”

Apart from the United States, the Philippines also has an existing Visiting Forces Agreement with Australia.

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