The Marine Corps of the Philippines , and , the United States , will keep exercises in the northern provinces of Luzon and Palawan — the areas facing , Taiwan , and the , West Philippine Sea, between— as the spotlight of the biggest- always Marine drills between both nations.
The annual drills between Marine forces of , Manila , and , Washington, dubbed as Marine Aviation Support Activity ( Masa ), formally began on Monday ( June 3 ) in an opening ceremony here in Taguig City, marking the beginning of the exercise that will last until , June 21.
Masa will be joined by 3, 175 personnel, including 2, 200 personnel from , Washington, mostly from the , United States Marine Corps , ( USMC), and 975 personnel from , Manila, mostly from the Philippine , Marine Corps , ( PMC). This week’s Masa beat the earlier biggest diplomatic sea training held in 2023, which had 2, 700 individuals.
Close air support exercises between PMC and USMC may be conducted in Palawan, but a day has not yet been set. Palawan faces the , West Philippine Sea, a battlefield of hostilities between , Manila , and , Beijing.
Despite this closeness, Masa’s training director Brigadier General , Romeo Racadio , said the maneuvers “are not explicitly aimed at addressing or resolving those particular tensions”.
While the conflicts in the and West Philippine Sea are complicated and necessitate diplomatic and political solutions, our target during these activities is on enhancing our defense capabilities and fostering closer cooperation with our friends, according to Racadio in a statement.
Coastal life fire drills will take place in Ilocos Norte, and Batanes will host a number of exchanges of expertise in various areas. These two provinces are somewhat near , Taiwan, a personal- ruled island , China , sees as a rogue state subject to unification.
Racadio also dismissed the association of the drills to the , Taiwan , scenario, saying the deployment in Ilocos Norte and Batanes is part of the PMC’s move to cover the entire archipelago.
” It is not because of this specific geography or political jurisdiction fronting our northern , Philippines”, Racadio said of , Taiwan , in a press conference, when asked if the location of the exercise had anything to do with the erupting tensions in the self- ruled island.
” Most of the deployment of the PMC are in the southern , Philippines, so we adjusted our deployment so that we can cover 7, 000 islands to provide maritime security posture to our archipelagic nation — that was the intent”, he added.
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