SOME 2,000 thousand American and Filipino marines, joined by forces from allied countries, launched 10 days of joint exercises in the northern and western Philippines on Tuesday, a day after China held huge drills around Taiwan.
The annual Kamandag, or Venom, exercises are focused on defending the north coast of the Philippine’s main island of Luzon, which lies about 800 kilometers from self-ruled Taiwan.
The United States and the Philippines are fielding around 1,000 troops each while allies Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom sent smaller contingents.
Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory and has vowed it will never rule out using force to take it, calling Monday’s drills a “stern warning” to “separatist” forces on the island.
The joint US-PH exercises come amid a series of escalating confrontations between Chinese and Philippine maritime forces over reefs and waters in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), also called South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety.
Philippine Marine Corps commandant Major-General Arturo Rojas stressed at Tuesday’s opening ceremony in Manila that Kamandag was long planned and had “nothing to do with whatever is happening in the region”.
The drills’ primary focus will be live-fire exercises along Luzon’s north coast, while other activities will be conducted on tiny Philippine islands between Luzon and Taiwan.
The 2024 exercises will also see the addition of three new observer nations, namely France, Thailand, and Indonesia.
“It’s a coastal defense doctrine. The doctrine says that a would-be aggressor might be directed towards our territory,” Filipino exercise director Brigadier-General Vicente Blanco told reporters.
“We are not exercising to join the fight (over Taiwan),” he added.
US Marines representative Colonel Stuart Glenn said the exercises were aimed at helping the United States and its allies respond to “any crisis or contingencies”.
The Philippine island province of Palawan, facing the disputed WPS, will also host part of the drills.
An amphibious landing and training on how to defend against chemical and biological warfare were also among the activities planned, according to a press kit.
“This is particularly important as we face both traditional and non-traditional threats in the region, from potential armed conflicts to national disasters,” Rojas said.
Blanco added that the exercises could potentially be used to facilitate the evacuation of Filipinos from Taiwan in the event of a conflict crisis.
“Any crisis in Taiwan would involve our concern for our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) in Taiwan. And I think it’s more about preparing our forces for whenever there will be a repatriation of our OFWs. We are not exercising to join the fight if there is any fight in that part of the region,” he said.
Some 150,000 Filipinos were working in Taiwan as of October 2023, according to the island’s labor ministry.
As the war games began Tuesday, the Philippine government announced that one of its civilian patrol vessels had sustained minor damage on October 11 when it was “deliberately sideswiped” by a “Chinese Maritime Militia” vessel.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said the collision, which dented the front right section of the BRP Datu Cabaylo, took place about 9.3 kilometers from Pag-asa, a Philippine-garrisoned island in the Spratly group.
The crew were unhurt and later sailed the vessel to Pag-asa and completed their routine maritime patrol mission, the statement said.
Amid the allies’ wargames, the Philippine Navy (PN) reported that there was a notable decline Chinese vessels patrolling key water features of the WPS.
Figures released to reporters on Tuesday show there were only a total of 34 Chinese ships sailing around Ayungin and Escoda Shoals, and Bajo de Masinloc.
The spotted ships represent a combination of People’s Liberation Army Navy and Chinese Coast Guard vessels.
Last week, the Navy reported a total of 190 various vessels in the said key water features of the Philippines in WPS.
Despite the reduction of Chinese presence, the Philippine military stressed that any foreign incursion is not welcome.
“Their continued illegal presence in the West Philippine Sea blatantly disregards the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling and violates our sovereignty and sovereign rights. We in the AFP remain committed to upholding international law and defending the integrity of our national territory.” the PN said in a statement. With AFP
