Balikatan 2025 launched

MANILA, Philippines —  The Philippines and the United States officially kicked off yesterday this year’s Balikatan exercise involving more than 17,000 military personnel and featuring “full battle test” scenarios. The joint drills end on May 9.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the 40th iteration of Balikatan is focused on enhancing interoperability in responding to various threats on land, sea and air, and even in the cyber domain.

“Across the vibrant expanse of Luzon, Palawan, the Visayas and Mindanao, we will assess our readiness in all domains: air, land, sea, cyber, information, cognitive and the emerging frontier of space, through comprehensive exercises that integrate tactical precision with strategic foresight,” Brawner said in remarks at the opening ceremonies at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

In this year’s exercise, the AFP also hopes to demonstrate the progress of its modernization efforts.

“The Full Battle Test will demonstrate how the tactical actions of service members have operational effects for the multilateral force,” said US Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael Cederholm, commanding general, I Marine Expeditionary Force. “Doing so allows us to validate, refine and improve our combined capability to defend the Philippines.”

“The US-Philippines alliance, anchored on the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, remains a cornerstone of peace and stability. Together, we honor our past, strengthen our present and secure our future,” US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson said.

Also taking part in this year’s Balikatan are the Australian Defense Force and the Japan Self-Defense Force.

Japanese forces joined this year’s Balikatan as full-fledged participants for the first time. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force will conduct a joint patrol with US and Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.

The exercise will have observers from Brunei, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Lithuania, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.

The AFP said Balikatan 2025 underscores the ironclad alliance between the Philippines and the US, and reaffirms their mutual defense commitments under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

The exercise will consist of four components: a Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore operation, humanitarian civic assistance activities, command-and-control exercise and a Multilateral Maritime Exercise.

“Balikatan 25 is more than a continuation of training over several decades – it’s a vital investment in our shared security,” said US Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James Glynn, the commander of US Marine Corps Forces Pacific.

“Together with our steadfast allies in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and with the growing involvement of nations with shared vital interests like Australia and Japan, we are operating as a force with mutually supporting capabilities ready to meet challenges in the region and defend a free and open Indo-Pacific. It’s really impressive,” he said.

The US Marines’ 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment deployed “ship-killer” missile Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) to the Philippines in support of Balikatan 25.

PCG’s role

For the first time in Balikatan, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will have a greater role in training and maneuvers, aside from its long-held task of securing the annual joint military drills.

“We would be participating in the exercise in a more meaningful” capacity, said PCG Commandant Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan.

“I think this one is more heightened. More capabilities will be involved,” comparing the current Balikatan with last year’s.

“The role given to the Coast Guard during exercises is for us to secure the exercise here and also do some operational matters… We would be part of other engagements,” he said.

He did not reveal the number of Coast Guard ships and personnel involved in this year’s iteration of the Balikatan but stressed the 86.6-meter long patrol vessel BRP Gabriela Silang would be seeing action after stocking up and refueling.

Commanded by Capt. Eleizer Ibarrientos, the Gabriela Silang – manned by 64 officers and crewmembers, had just returned to the country after visiting Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam from April 1 to 17.

The PCG has increased its engagements with the coast guards of other countries to maintain peace and uphold rule of law at sea, Gavan said.

It aims to visit other Southeast Asian countries with coast guard agencies and seek their cooperation in maintaining peace and to uphold the existing rules in the region.

Earlier, the PCG sent vessels to Malaysia for joint Maritime Pollution Exercises. “We will complete other Southeast Asian countries in the years to come,” Gavan said.

“The PCG is one of the initiators of the formation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Coast Guard Forum, where Coast Guards in Southeast Asia talk about everything abou – Mark Ernest Villeza