PCG to send 6 ships to ‘Balikatan’ drills with US, allies

Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Rear Admiral Armand Balilo. FILE PHOTO

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will send six ships for the upcoming “Balikatan” (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises with American and other troops in Philippine and international waters starting next week.

Rear Adm. Armand Balilo, PCG spokesperson, announced Thursday that the agency will join “joint interoperability exercises” with the Philippine Navy, United States, Australia, and France from April 22 to May 10.

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The Navy will be sending the missile frigate BRP Antonio Luna, landing platform BRP Davao del Sur, offshore patrol vessel BRP Ramon Alcaraz, FA-50 jet fighters, Super Tucanos support aircraft and Black Hawk helicopters.

The United States, on the other hand, is expected to send fifth generation F-22 “Raptors,” F-35 “Lightning II,” AH 64 “Apache” attack helicopters, AC-130 “Spooky” gunships and at least two naval ships.

About 16,000 troops from the United States and the Philippines are also expected to join the 19-day exercise.

Limitation lifted

Army Col. Michael Logico, the Balikatan executive agent, said the group sail or the multilateral maritime exercise would be conducted beyond 12 nautical miles or 22.22 kilometers off the coast of Palawan, which is considered international waters

“So every single year in the past administration, we have always been asking permission to go beyond 12 nautical miles because this is a limitation that does not present a realistic training environment. We were finally given that permission this year,” he told a forum on Wednesday.

Logico also told the Inquirer that Philippine and US troops would simulate an island seizure scenario in Palawan, which faces the West Philippine Sea and is nearest the Philippine-occupied Kalayaan Island Group.

In a separate statement also on Thursday, Col. Xerxes Trinidad, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ public affairs office, said the Philippines has the prerogative “to engage in activities that contribute to our national security and defense posture.”

Trinidad made the remark after China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian warned the government against allowing foreign countries to meddle in the South China Sea issue.

According to Trinidad, the Balikatan “is a regularly scheduled and long-standing exercise that enhances the ability of the Philippines to work together with our ally and partners.”