Manila will play a huge role in this year’s Indo-Pacific Endeavor amid continuing tensions in the West Philippine Sea, the Australian Ambassador to the Philippines said Tuesday.
The program is an annual regional engagement activity organized by the Australian Defense Force to show its commitment to working with regional partners and ensure a secure Indo-Pacific through maritime exercises, said Ambassador HK Yu.
The Indo-Pacific Endeavor will take place in August 2023.
This developed as Amnerican, Japanese, Australian, and Philippine defense ministers are planning to hold their first-ever quadrilateral talks in Singapore next month, a diplomatic source said Tuesday, amid China’s growing maritime assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
The meeting by the United States and its three security allies in the Pacific would take place on the sidelines of the annual Asia Security Conference, known as Shangri-La Dialogue, scheduled for three days through June 4 in the Southeast Asian city-state.
The gathering would be held as Japan, the United States and Australia have been each bolstering their defense cooperation with the Philippines, while trying to showcase their collaboration as a group of four nations surrounding the Pacific.
“This year’s Indo-Pacific Endeavor is going to be, probably one of the biggest we’ve ever done, with the Philippines right at the center of it,” said Yu.
“And as part of that, we’re actually running an exercise called Alon (‘wave’ in Filipino)… that is going to be an amphibious exercise including the Philippines, and most likely the US as well and Australia,” she added.
In related developments:
* The Philippine Navy has deployed its offshore patrol vessel BRP Andres Bonifacio (PS-17) to take part in the multilateral naval exercise “Komodo” in Indonesia.
* The Japan Coast Guard dispatched three members of its Mobile Cooperation Team to provide capacity-building support to the Philippine Coast Guard during a Multinational Vessel Boarding Officer Course jointly held with the US Coast Guard n Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
Australia has pledged to beef up its assistance to the PCG by providing drone equipment, training, and technology, said Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong during her visit to the Philippines earlier in May.
Aside from maritime cooperation, Australia has also increased its Official Development Assistance (ODA) for several initiatives, including the Mindanao peace process.
Yu said it is Australia’s interest to work towards a stable, peaceful Indo-Pacific Region.
“We wall want to create the region that we live in, which is prosperous, peaceful, and stable,” she said.
“Of course, we’re going to be active in what’s happening in the region because it’s in Australia’s interest. And we want to be a strong partner to the Philippines in creating the region we both want to live in—where sovereignty is respected, and international law guides what happens in the region.” Charles Dantes