Expect more PH-US maritime exercises, says envoy
US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson is expecting to "see more" maritime activities, including naval exercises and joint sails, between the two countries as she described the partnership between Manila and Washington as having "greater coordination" than ever.
While "joint patrols" in the greater part of the South China Sea between American and Philippine troops are highly anticipated, Carlson said the recent exercises conducted by both sides in the Philippine waters, including the West Philippine Sea, already proved there is already a "major exercise" happening.
"Some people get a little hung up on the word 'patrol.' But in fact, we have combined maritime activities that are ongoing, including the recent SAMASAMA exercises... we have every year 500 or so engagements, military engagements of various sorts, some as large as Balikatan," she told reporters at a briefing in her residence.
Those "could be considered joint patrols" for Carlson. But she clarified that such actions, while countering gray zone tactics, are not provocative.
"We're working shoulder to shoulder together on this to see what are our objectives. How do we counter those gray zone tactics in a way that prevents conflict, in a way that deters future aggressive activity, without provoking that which we seek to avoid?" she said.
Carlson said: "I expect to see more of that in the future."
Carlson looked back on the year that passed for the Philippines and US, which she said was packed with many high-level visits coming from both sides that yielded more agreements and partnerships.
Some agreements included possible cooperation on nuclear energy as well as partnership in the areas of education, cyberspace, energy, people-to-people, security and trade and investment.
In fact, the US government will be launching a USD30 million program to "strengthen higher education, encourage innovation and expand advanced workforce development," while the agreement on nuclear cooperation is about "90 percent" close to being signed.
"The pace of our engagement with the Philippine government, business and civil society has been absolutely incredible. And it's in my 38 years in the Foreign Service. I've never seen anything like it," Carlson said.