CLAVERIA, Cagayan – Donning full military battle gears and equipped with high-powered firearms, Filipino and American marine troopers swooped down on a beach here aboard amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs) and military helicopters as part of an amphibious landing exercise on Thursday, March 31.

The simulated exercise formed part of the ongoing 37th Philippines-United States Balikatan Exercise between the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) and the United States Marine Corps which aimed to enhance the interoperability of the two allied forces “in preparation for an external aggression,” said Major Gen. Laurence Mina Jr., commander of the 5th Infantry Division (5ID).

During the exercise, the PMC utilized four out of 12 units of its amphibious assault vehicles, a prized asset which can operate both in land and on water, to transport the Filipino troops onto the beach as they positioned themselves in front of imaginary enemy units.

American marines from the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment then disembarked from modern aircraft including a CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter, a heavy-lift transport helicopter of the US military, to complement the Filipino forces.

Mina said the drill strengthened both the Philippines and United States’ coastal defense capabilities.

“If we talk of external aggression, is really the area that we need to improve on. We’ve been improving on our internal capabilities for 53 years and now it’s high time that we do this with the unfolding events that we hear internationally,” Mina told reporters in a mix of Filipino and English.

The amphibious landing exercise was held in the coastal waters of Claveria, which is Luzon’s northernmost town. It faces Taiwan on the north, a country which China claims as part of its territory.

“ is really where we are headed to. With the current situation in my AOR , the situation is irreversible if they claim more areas unless the next president has the same mindset as President Duterte,” Mina said.

China has tightened its grip in the South China Sea by aggressively asserting its dominance in the territories that it claimed – even those which are located in the West Philippine Sea.

“I’m not looking at it as an avenue where we can show them that we are claiming what’s ours. This is just an exercise. But even though this is just an exercise, it could also work as a deterrence. When they attack, our forces are ready,” the 5ID commander noted.

For Colonel Timothy Brady Jr., commanding officer of the US Marines' 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, the drill was not in any form a “show of force” against China.

“This exercise is not executed as part of any current global situation. We’ve been doing this exercise for several decades at this point and as an annually scheduled exercise,” he explained.