The Philippines has an “inherent and invaluable” right to conduct military exercises within its own territory.
 

(HIMARS rockets are fired during the combined joint littoral live fire exercise of Exercise Balikatan 2023 in San Antonio, Zambales on April 26, 2023. Photo by Noel Pabalate / MANILA BULLETIN)

This was stressed by Colonel Michael Logico, executive agent for the Philippine side of the Exercise Balikatan 2023, after the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the United States Armed Forces conducted a combined joint littoral live fire exercise in San Antonio, Zambales on Wednesday, April 26, which served as the main event of this year's Balikatan.

“We are exercising inside of our territorial waters and inside of our territorial airspace and that is our inherent and invaluable right to exercise within our territory,” Logico told reporters after the live fire drill. 

The exercise was highlighted by the sinking of former Philippine Navy corvette BRP Pangasinan (PS-31) at 12 nautical miles from the shoreline through the firing of rockets, artilleries, and other aviation weapons. 

The location of the ship is well within the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines. The exercise was also held at approximately 100 nautical miles from Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal which was seized by China from the Philippines in a tense standoff in 2012.

Logico said he would not want to anticipate China’s reaction to the AFP and US military’s joint drills near the Scarborough Shoal. “I cannot speak for them (China),” he said.

But the Balikatan main event was marked by a surprising delay when the radars of the AFP and US military detected an aerial intruder flying within the operational area where the sinking exercise was being held. The interloper was later identified as a “a private unregistered single craft aircraft.”

Logico said they had to delay the firing of the rockets to sink BRP Pangasinan since it could pose danger to the interloper.

“Safety is always a primary consideration when we conduct the exercise. Any interloper or any intrusion into the exercise that will endanger the lives of people, whether its intentional or accidental, is our primary consideration. As a general SOP [standard operating procedure] we lift fires every time that there is an interloper to our territory,” he said.

It has yet to be determined whether the aircraft got inside the operational area by mere accident or intentionally as a form of sabotage.

“We are not sure if it was intentional or accidental so I will not need to jump for a conclusion,” Logico said.

Meanwhile, Col. Jackson Doan, from the US Marine Corps Forces Pacific, said the live fire exercise was meant to develop the interoperability of the forces from the Philippines and US militaries so they can work together in future scenarios.

“The message is not geared toward anything outside of the strong relationship and bond with the Philippines. The message is very simple,” Doan said.

“We’ve been called upon to train together and we learn from that. That key element of partnership and resolve is far stronger than any other measures and technical prowess, any other measure of exploding targets or any other measure of offensive and defensive capability,” he continued.

“The resolve in partnership is far stronger than any technical element that we have and that’s the true message of Balikatan, in translation shoulder to shoulder. That doesn’t mean weapon to weapon. It really means family,” he added.