Brawner says multilateral drills in WPS not against any country

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of staff  Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. INQUIRER file photo / Ryan Leagogo

MANILA, Philippines — The first-ever joint maritime activity of the Philippines and three of its key allies in the West Philippine Sea is not addressed against any country.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. on Monday said the anti-submarine drills conducted with the United States, Australia, and Japan was done to enhance interoperability between said nations.

Exercises involved the Philippine Navy’s frigate BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151) with antisubmarine warfare AW159 helicopter and patrol ship BRP Valentin Diaz (PS-177), the US Navy’s littoral combat ship USS Mobile (LCS-26), the Royal Australian Navy’s frigate HMAS Warramunga (FFH-152), and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s destroyer JS Akebono (DD-108).

United States and Australia each deployed a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.

“This is not directed against any country but we are doing the exercises, number one, for interoperability so we could operate with other like-minded armed forces and also to enhance our own capability,” Brawner said in an ambush interview in Camp Aguinaldo.

For his part, Defense spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said this aims to uphold the freedom of navigation and overflight.

“We want to send a clear message about the unity and resolve of our nations, especially the nations that participated, in upholding recognized norms and principles,” Andolong said in another press conference.

Despite this, Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Navy warships with bow numbers 792 and 162 were monitored six nautical miles away from the exercise area off the coast of Busanga, Palawan.

Furthermore, China said it would conduct military “combat patrols” in the South China Sea on Sunday, the same day as joint drills by four countries, according to Agence France-Presse.

READ: Brawner disputes China’s claim of ‘combat patrol’ in West Philippine Sea

Beijing asserts sovereignty in the entire South China Sea, including most of the West Philippine Sea, even if such a claim has been effectively invalidated by a July 2016 international tribunal ruling that stemmed from a case filed by Manila in 2013.