The Armed Forces of the Philippines released a message today (22nd) announcing the official start of the annual “Balikatan” joint military exercise with the US military. The Philippine military stated that the military exercise will last for three weeks until May 10, with more than 16,700 soldiers participating, including 11,000 US troops and 5,000 Filipino soldiers; in addition, about 150 Australian military personnel and 100 French navy personnel and personnel from other Philippine government agencies will also participate in the exercise.
According to a press conference held by the Philippines in advance, this year’s “Balikan” military exercise will have several new breakthroughs, including the fact that the navies of the United States, the Philippines, and France will conduct multilateral maritime exercises outside the territorial waters of the Philippines for the first time. The “Comprehensive Archipelago Defense Concept” was verified and the first information warfare and cyber defense drill was conducted. The Philippine National Police, Coast Guard, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Civil Defense (OCD), etc. were all included in the exercise cooperating agencies.
The Philippines specifically stated that this year is the first time that the French military has participated in the “Baby-Biden” military exercise. France has sent a frigate to conduct maritime military exercises together with US and Philippine warships and the Philippine Coast Guard. Since the Philippines and France have not signed the “Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA)”, French troops cannot set foot on Philippine territory and can only participate in exercises outside Philippine territorial waters. The Philippines has signed a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States and Australia, and is discussing the signing of a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japan. Once the negotiations are completed, both sides will be allowed to deploy troops in each other’s territories. The Japan Self-Defense Forces are also expected to participate in the “Balikawa” military exercise next year.
As the South China Sea sovereignty dispute between the Philippines and China intensifies, if Chinese coast guard ships or other ships invade the exercise area during military exercises, the Philippines strongly declares: “This is their (Chinese ships) problem, not our problem,” he said. The exercise will be declared off-limits in accordance with international law. If there is any emergency, “the navies of the three countries are ready.”
