March 8, 2024 | NEWS DIGEST

 

By API Desk | Date 03-08-2024

 

Philippines, US hold largest Balikatan drills in Palawan, Batanes

The Philippines and the United States are planning to hold military exercises next month in areas close to the regions’ flashpoints, a move that could further irritate China.

Balikatan exercises spokesperson Colonel Michael Logico said drills, which will run from April 22 to May 8, would be held on the islands of Palawan and Batanes but added that these drills have nothing to do with the Philippines’ dispute with China on the South China Sea and the raging China-Taiwan tensions. 

Logico also said that integrated air missile defense exercises will be held in Central Luzon. Australia and France will be participating, while Japan was also invited to join in the drills.  

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a strategic waterway where $3 trillion worth of seaborne goods passes annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam also have conflicting claims in the sea believed to have rich deposits of energy resources. 

 

Chinese survey ships spotted in Benham Rise

The military has monitored two Chinese research vessels loitering in Benham Rise in the Pacific Ocean, an area within the country’s territory.

Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, the navy’s spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, said in a radio interview that the two vessels came from Guangzhou and  passed through the area on the way to the southeast Pacific.

A retired US Air Force colonel, Ray Powell of the  Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, reported the presence of the Chinese vessels at Benham Rise. Powell added that the research vessels, Haiyang Dizhi Liuhao and Haiyang Dizhi Shihao, left a port in Longxue Island in Guangzhou last February 26 and were “loitering” near Benham Rise.

The UN Commission of the Continental Shelf approved 2012 the Philippine claim and declared Benham Rise as the Philippines’ extended continental shelf.

 

Foreign intrusions are a cause of concern – Philippine Navy

Any foreign intrusion within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is a cause for concern, the deputy commander of the Philippine Fleet said, describing it as “worrisome.”

Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Navy’s spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, said three Chinese Navy warships were monitored around the Scarborough Shoal, only 120-130 nautical miles west of Zambales. This is not in aligned with the UNCLOS  “and will be addressed appropriately  under domestic and international  laws,” Trinidad added. 

UNCLOS, or the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Law, allows coastal states, like the Philippines, jurisdiction on the area within its 200 nautical miles Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). 

Trinidad also welcomed the Senate’s passage of the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, which defines the country’s rights and entitlements over its maritime zones and underwater features. The act will provided a clearer perspective on maritime domain, “ thus our governance, and preserving the maritime entitlements will be much better,” Trinidad added. 

China gained control of the shoal in 2012 following a standoff with Philippine government vessels. Since then, the Chinese have prevented Filipino fishermen from fishing inside the shoal’s lagoon.

 

Philippine Army, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force hold humanitarian cooperation 

The Philippines sent a team of Army engineers to Tokyo to participate in a humanitarian and disaster response drill early this month, an army spokesman said. 

Colonel Louie Dema-ala said a 12-man team from the 525th Combat Engineering Battalion flew to Japan for the third HADR cooperation project, which aims to mutually enhance the capabilities of the Philippine Army and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force on disasters such as volcanic eruption, tsunami, earthquake, and flood.

In 2021, the Philippines received Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) equipment  from the Japanese government. This was used during the  search and retrieval operation after the 7.2-magnitude quake that hit Turkey in February 2023 and the Davao De Pro landslide last month. 

Dema-ala said the Philippine Army hosted last year’s iteration of the HADR Cooperation Project, which was participated by the search, rescue, and retrieval teams from the 525th Combat Engineering Battalion of the 51st Engineering Brigade.