Military drills meant to prepare PH for West PH Sea defense – US general

MEANWHILE, IN PALAWAN Soldiers conduct an airfield seizure exercise as part of the US-Philippines “Balikatan” joint military exercise at San Vicente Airport in Palawan province in this file photo taken on May 2, 2024. —AFP

LAOAG CITY, Philippines — Manila and Washington’s  activities during its war games here, like the simulation of retaking and defending of maritime territory as well as the sinking of a mock enemy ship, are part of preparations to protect the country’s interests in the West Philippine Sea.

Lt. Gen. Michael Cederholm, commanding general of the 1 Marine Expeditionary Force, reiterated that this is part of the seven-decades old Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between both countries.

Both nations’ forces simulated on Monday their foiling of an invasion attempt by a foreign country in the shores of Laoag—one of the country’s northernmost areas near Taiwan which also faces the West Philippine Sea—through the use of howitzers in their live fire drills.

READ: PH, US war games simulate foiling of invasion attempt near Taiwan

On Wednesday, the former BRP Lake Caliraya, a discarded “made in China” oil tanker, will also be used as a mock target during the sinking exercise also to be held in this city.

Cederholm, when asked if one of the purposes of such drills is to gear up for the defense of Manila’s maritime features inside the western section of its exclusive economic zone, answered in the affirmative.

“Yes, absolutely. I think the Philippines and the US have a shared vision of a free and open [Indo]-Pacific: it’s grounded in transparency, respect to sovereignty, [and] in seeking peaceful solutions,” Cederholm said of the question about the Balikatan drills and West Philippine Sea. “So protecting Philippine sovereignty, it goes back to that shared vision that both of our countries enjoy.”

US bound to ‘honor’ MDT

“All of those missions, they are designed to deliver in accordance with the Mutual Defense Treaty,” Cederholm also said, referring to the upcoming maritime strike and the just-concluded live-fire drills, in a chance interview in La Paz Sand Dunes just after the latter activity.

“We honor that; that means a lot to us,” he also said of the treaty.

Signed on August 30, 1951, the MDT states that Manila and Washington would support each other if one of them faces an external attack.

If peaceful means fail…

Cederholm also remarked a thinly-veiled caveat should “peaceful” means in disputes fail to deliver.

“Make no mistake, though, if there can’t be a peaceful solution, we have an obligation to our countries to train together [and] to interoperate,” he said.

However, when asked initially if Balikatan is meant to send a message amid China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea, Cederholm said: “We don’t do this exercise for third parties, we do this for the Philippine-US interoperability.”

The Philippine Navy’s resupply activity of BRP Sierra Madre grounded in Ayungin Shoal and the government’s humanitarian activities in Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal become the flashpoint of tensions between Manila and Beijing.

On March 23, Chinese coast guard used water cannons against a Filipino vessel in Ayungin Shoal, seriously injuring three Navy personnel in what Manila considered to be the worst incident of the dispute with Beijing thus far.

Beijing asserts sovereignty in the entire South China Sea—including most of the West Philippine Sea—despite the July 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling which effectively invalidated its claims based on a case filed by Manila in 2013.