The 38^th iteration of the “Exercise Balikatan” between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and United States Armed Forces officially kicked off Tuesday, April 11, but it was marred by a lightning rally conducted by certain groups opposing American troops’ presence in the country.

*(Officials from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), United States Armed Forces, and US Embassy link arms during the opening ceremony of the 38th iteration of the Exercise Balikatan at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on April 11, 2023. This year's edition of the drills is so far the biggest in history with around 17,000 participating troops. In photo are (L-R) Maj. Gen. Marvin Licudine, PH Exercise Director; Gen. Andres Centino, AFP Chief of Staff; US Embassy in the Philippines Charge d'Affaires Heather Variava; Brig. Gen. Noel Beltran, AFP deputy chief of staff for education, training, and doctrine command; and US Marine Corps 1st Marine Aircraft Wing Maj. Gen. Eric Austin, US Exercise Director Representative. Photo by Mark Balmores / MANILA BULLETIN)*

The Exercise Balikatan will center on four major drills: command post exercise, cyber defense exercise, field training exercise, and humanitarian civic assistance (HCA) activities, according to General Andres Centino, AFP Chief of Staff. The more than two-week long event will be held until April 28.

The command post exercise aims to test the Filipino and American troops’ ability to plan, command, and communicate while in a simulated environment, thus, enhancing their collective security and defensive capabilities.

Meanwhile, the cyber defense exercise will be geared towards building a cybersecurity and defense infrastructure “that can protect, detect, respond, and recover from various kinds of cyber threats.”

Field training exercise is consisted of combined joint logistics drills over the shore in Subic and Casiguran Bays in Aurora, as well as a combined joint littoral fire exercise in Zambales. This is easily the highlight of the event as it will be the first time that the participating troops will try to sink a ship at sea in a simulation of a scenario to deter a maritime invasion.

Finally, the HCAs will be conducted in Antique, Ilocos Norte, and Aurora province.

“We believe that the Balikatan Exercise is also an opportunity to deepen our collaboration to enable appropriate and timely actions whenever and wherever needed,” Centino said during the opening ceremony at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

The AFP and US Armed Forces have deployed some of its most advanced assets and equipment which will be used in the exercise.

The AFP will utilize its Autonomous Truck Mounted Howitzer System (ATMOS) Battery self-propelled gun systems, 105 Howitzer direct fire weapons, FA-50 fighter planes, Blackhawk helicopters, A-29 B aircraft, T-129 ATAK helicopters, SIAI-Marchetti SF-260TP aircraft, AgustaWestland AW 109H helicopters, McDonnell Douglas MD-520 MG attack helicopters, fast frigate patrol ships, and landing docks.

Meanwhile, the US will use MV-22 Osprey aircraft, UH-1Y Venom helicopters, AH-1Z Viper helicopters, UH 53 Super Stallion helicopters, joint tactical light vehicles, and F-35 Lighting II stealth combat aircraft from the US Marine Corps; landing helicopter docks (LHD), landing platform docks (LPD), expeditionary sea base (ESB) ships, Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk helicopters, and Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft.

Further, the US Army will showcase its Howitzer systems, Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters, HH-60 medevac (medical evacuation) Blackhawk helicopters, Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, Boeing CH-47 Chinooks helicopters, landing craft utility (LCUs), High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), Patriot and Avenger Battery Systems.

Finally, the US Air Force sent its Lockheed KC-130J Super Hercules aircraft, KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft, and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft. Additionally, there will also be various unmanned aerial surveillance systems from both countries.

“We will train shoulder-to-shoulder focusing on maritime security, amphibious operations, live-fire exercise, urban operations, aviation operations, counterterrorism, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response,” Centino said.

This year’s annual war game between the Philippines and US militaries is the biggest version in its almost four-decade history with more than 17,600 participants: 12,200 from the US and 5,400 from the Philippines.

There are also 111 active participants from the Australian Defence Force while 12 allied nations sent representatives who will act as observers, according to Col. Medel Aguilar, AFP spokesperson.

Looming conflict?

But progressive groups led by youth group League of Filipino Students (LFS) held a lightning rally in front of the US Embassy in Manila to express concern that the Philippines might be caught in a crossfire amid the increasing tension between the US and China. 

At least two students were reportedly arrested by personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in connection with the rally.

Tension sparked once more between superpower countries US and China as the latter claims the self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory. Taiwan is situated near the northern Luzon and is close to the Philippines’ northernmost province of Mavulis Island.

Adding to that, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently announced the exact location of four additional sites for the expansion of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and US. These are at the Naval Base Camilo Osias in Santa Ana, Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; Balabac Island in Palawan; and Lal-lo Airport in Cagayan. 

Notably, the additional EDCA sites in Cagayan and Palawan are strategically near Taiwan and the West Philippine Sea (WPS), respectively, which prompted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin to warn regional countries that they “need to remain vigilant and avoid being coerced or used by the US.”

But Maj. Gen. Marvic Licudine, Balikatan Philippines exercise director, clarified that the Balikatan only seeks to enhance the interoperability of the militaries of Manila and Washington, and is not meant to antagonize any third-party country.

“The exercise is just to strengthen our interoperabilty and our cooperation at the military level so it doesn’t in any way affect the tensions,” he said.

This was backed by Maj. Gen. Eric Austin, Balikatan US exercise director representative, who stressed that this is not the first time that the two countries have conducted the military exercise.

“We’ve been doing this for 38 years and it is a tremendously important chance for us to train together as allies and partners,” he said.