The Armed Forces Philippines (AFP) denied the claims of Kyodo News that the country will host joint naval exercises by the United States, Australia, and Japan in the West Philippine Sea.
“We heard about this from the Kyodo News article. We asked our counterparts, Japan, the US, and Australia. They don’t know anything about the exercise. We don’t know where this came from,” Brawner said in an interview in Camp Aguinaldo.
“Per coordination with our counterparts, there is no exercise among the three nations in the next few weeks,” he added.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Marles will travel to the Philippines to observe joint training drills focused on regional security, his office said on Monday.
More than 2,000 Australian and Philippine defense personnel will participate in amphibious landing and air assault drills, with two Australian navy vessels, HMAS Canberra and HMAS ANZAC, having arrived to conduct the bilateral exercises with the Philippines Navy.
Citing multiple unnamed sources, Kyodo News reported on Friday that Tokyo, Washington, and Canberra, would hold joint naval drills in the South China Sea this Wednesday.
The report said the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force would send its largest destroyer, the Izumo. The US Navy and Royal Australian Navy, meanwhile, will supposedly deploy their amphibious assault ships, America and Canberra, respectively.
Brawner also denied the Japanese news agency’s report that the Philippines declined to participate in the trilateral drills, explaining that the country hoped to conduct more joint exercises.
“We also asked the Philippine Navy, they don’t even know. We don’t know of any refusal from the AFP to join this exercise. Contrary to that, we encourage joint exercises among like-minded nations.” the AFP chief said.
“From our point of view, we don’t know anything like that and we don’t refuse. I think that Exercise Alon was just misinterpreted. Australia and the US were with us, but we did not send a ship. Instead, we sent our Philippine Marines to exercise with the US Marines and Australian Defense Force,” he added.
Brawner said that the three ships en route to the WPS were also coming here, but that their visits were not connected. The Japanese warship will make a port call in Manila to conduct resupply and re-provisioning.
He added that the HMS Canberra is taking part in “Exercise Alon,” joint exercises between Australia and the Philippines in Palawan, while the USS America was “just there watching,” but did not join the exercises.
Filipino and Australian forces on Monday conducted an air assault exercise at Punta Baja in Rizal, Palawan as the first major training serial for “Exercise Alon” being carried out by the AFP and the Australian Defense Force (ADF) from Aug. 14 to 31.
“This marked the first major training serial as part of the bilateral cooperation between the AFP and the ADF as part of the latter’s Indo-Pacific Endeavor (IPE) activities for 2023,” AFP public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Enrico Gil Ileto said in a statement.
This involved coordinated air, land, and sea actions to simulate realistic combat scenarios, enhancing the forces’ preparedness and operational readiness.
Ileto said the Palawan air assault exercise involved the insertion of ground combat elements via MV-22B “Osprey” tilt-rotor aircraft from Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D), launched from the Royal Australian Navy’s landing helicopter dock, HMAS Canberra (LO2), to the Punta Baja Airfield last Aug. 20.
The helicopter assault force established a link with the 3rd Marine Brigade to secure the Punta Baja Airfield and set up a forward arming and refueling point.
“On Aug. 21, 2023, a joint raid was conducted at Tarumpitao Airfield by the combined forces of the AFP, ADF, and USMC (United States Marine Corps) with close air support provided by Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-35A ‘Lightning II’ aircraft,” Ileto said.
Meanwhile, exfiltration will take place on Aug. 22 and will have the force departing from Tarampitao Airfield via MV-22B and returning aboard the HMAS Canberra.
The exercise involved 175 troops from the AFP and two platoons from the ADF, with support from the USMC, as well as a Philippine Marine Corps ground-based security force along with HMAS Canberra and frigate HMAS Anzac (FFH-150) and air support by USMC MV-22B, and RAAF aircraft.
IPE23 serves as Australia’s flagship international engagement activity in the Southeast Asian and Indian Ocean regions.
It aims to promote security, stability, and stronger partnerships through bilateral and multilateral engagement, training, capacity building, and humanitarian efforts.
“Exercise Alon 2023” marks the first bilateral amphibious exercise between Australia and the Philippines, aimed at enhancing interoperability and enabling the forces to share tactics, techniques, procedures, and best practices in the conduct of amphibious operations.