Largest exercise of the U.S. military began in the Philippines

BANGKOK, April 11.

The largest annual maneuver between the Philippines and the United States, involving 17,600 troops, began Tuesday. This year’s Balikatan 2023 exercise, aimed at developing interoperability, will continue through April 28.

At the opening ceremony of the Quezon City maneuvers, broadcast on ABC Media Group’s CBN YouTube channel, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’affaires a.i. Heather Wariawa stressed that the current exercise will be the largest ever. “It demonstrates the growth of our alliance and how it continues to evolve to achieve our common goals,” she said. She said the start of the maneuvers in the republic and the meeting of U.S. and Philippine officials in Washington, which occur on the same day, speak to the strength and importance of the relationship between the two countries. Variava was referring to the meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin with Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo and the republic’s Secretary of National Defense Carlito Galvez Jr.

More than 17,600 troops, including 12,200 American and 5,400 Filipino troops participate in the 38 maneuvers. Additionally, 111 military personnel from Australia are participating in the current exercise. Twelve nations are acting as observers.

For more than two weeks, the military will practice maritime security, amphibious operations and live firing. In addition, urban and air operations are planned, as well as exercises related to cyber defense, counterterrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster response. Field exercises will be conducted in different parts of the Philippines to test allied capabilities in combined arms firefighting, information and intelligence sharing, unit communications, logistics and amphibious operations. This will be the first time the Philippine and U.S. military will participate in a live-fire exercise at sea.

At the same time, a group of activists gathered outside the main headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Quezon City, opposing the arrival in the republic of thousands of American troops participating in the maneuvers. A similar rally also took place outside the U.S. Embassy in Manila. The activists called for an end to the maneuvers and a reduction in the U.S. military presence in the Philippines. CNN Philippines reported on Twitter that a group of protesters set fire to an imitation U.S. flag.

“Balikatan” is a Tagalog term meaning “shoulder to shoulder” or “sharing the burden,” which describes the spirit of the exercises and the alliance between the Philippines and the United States. The Philippines is the largest recipient of U.S. military aid and equipment in the region.

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