MANILA – United States and Philippine forces began their largest annual military exercises under President Rodrigo Duterte.
The Balikatan exercises opened Monday and were to involve combat drills in mock urban settings to train special forces in battling terrorists in cities after the Islamic State group-linked siege in Marawi City last year.
This was despite the Philippine leader wanting to scale down America’s military presence and involvement in combat drills as he sought closer ties with China and Russia.
About 8,000 United States and Philippine troops are taking part in the annual exercise aimed at enhancing interoperability in counterterrorism and humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
Contingents from Australia and Japan are also participating in the two-week exercise.
After rising to power in 2016, Duterte vowed to scale back the presence of US troops involved in counterterrorism training in the country’s south.
He once threatened to end the annual drills with American forces.
This year’s Balikatan will be the largest joint drills since Duterte took office, though Filipino officials stressed they are not aimed at China.
China has been reported to be continuously militarizing contested areas in South China Sea.
A Senate investigation into the reported deployment of Chinese missiles at the Spratly Islands was being pushed.
Critics of the Duterte administration, meanwhile, slammed what they called its “sheepish” response to the issue. (With Associated Press/PN)
