The knowledge and skills gained by Filipino and American soldiers from their two-week "Balikatan" Exercise 2021 won't be used to attack another country, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.

"We have been doing this for the past 36 years but we never had even once used our acquired knowledge to fight another country. But for disaster and humanitarian purposes we have done this many, many times," Lorenzana said in his speech during the closing ceremonies of the military drills at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

He gave these remarks even as China refused to recall more than 240 of its vessels from the West Philippine Sea (WPS). United States Charge d'Affaires John Law also took part in the ceremony.

Lorenzana said the conduct of the scaled-down Balikatan Exercise, which he described as "successful," was indicative of how the Philippines and United States (US) "intend to contribute and preserve the international order." "Our success brings forth two important messages to the world. First, nations become stronger if we work together and second, there is no threat too daunting if the burden is shared and shouldered together," he said.

He maintained that the exercise was conducted to enhance Filipino and US troops' interoperability to jointly address mutual concerns especially regarding counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations, and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Meanwhile, Law said that holding the Balikatan Exercise amid the pandemic proved that "regardless of the difficulty of the crisis, US and Filipinos are going to work extremely well together." "Despite the extraordinary challenges that the pandemic poses, having people to come together and work together, we did it. They did it extraordinarily well," he noted.

Law briefly touched on Manila's deepening dispute with Beijing as he lauded Lorenzana's strong resolve to drive away the Chinese vessels from the WPS.

"We think that the 2016 arbitral ruling was absolutely clear and so we stand with our Philippine allies and we are in support of the rules-based order in the West Philippine Sea and throughout the entire South China Sea," Law said, citing the Permanent Court of Arbitration's favorable 2016 ruling for the Philippines that rejected China's nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea.

The American official also expressed gratitude for the warm acceptance of Filipino soldiers to their visiting counterparts.

"Every American soldier I talked to is always extraordinarily happy to come to the Philippines and work with their counterparts here in the Philippines. I have not heard anyone or anything except the highest, most positive possible experience when they are able to train with their Filipino counterparts," he said.

The scaled-down Balikatan started on April 12 with 736 participants from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and 225 joiners from the US military.

Face-to-face drills were limited and some of the exercises were held virtually as part of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Major Balikatan 2021 events were held at the Colonel Ernesto Ravina Airbase in Tarlac where combined Air Force and Special Operations units conducted close air support training.

AFP Northern Luzon Command Battle Staff and US Indo-Pacific Command representatives also conducted a bilateral staff exercise in Clark, Pampanga, while Philippine and US Special Operations forces conducted a Bilateral Staff Academic Seminar in Taguig City.

Academic discussions and subject matter expert exchanges were also held virtually to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.