SoKor, Phl to hold tabletop peacekeeping exercises

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will host in February a tabletop exercise that aims to enhance the peacekeeping capabilities of countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The defense department said a planning conference for the activity was held from Oct. 24 to 25 and was attended by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretariat and members of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM) Plus.

The ADMM Plus is composed of ASEAN members the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as Australia, China, Japan, India, and South Korea.

The members of the ADMM Plus would all attend the tabletop exercise.

The defense department said the planning conference adopted a scenario to be used during the tabletop exercise.

It also discussed the concept, objectives and duration of the exercise as well as ways to execute the activity.

“Details such as inclusion of subject matter, expert lectures as well as discussions on the number of syndicate groups for the exercise were explored,” the department said.

Also discussed were organizational matters including the number of participants from each country, and the preparatory work needed to be undertaken between November and February.

The ADMM Plus members are expected to finalize the details of the activity soon.

The tabletop exercise seeks to determine the applicability of the United Nations Battalion Manual, which contains the programs used by countries deploying contingents for peacekeeping missions.

Other ADMM Plus activities related to peacekeeping include the Experts’ Working Group seminars organized by New Zealand in 2011, the regional peacekeeping operations capabilities workshop organized by the Philippines in 2012, the seminar on the operational challenges of peacekeeping held in Indonesia last year and the force generation workshop organized by New Zealand this year.

About 600 Filipino soldiers are deployed in nine mission areas around the world for various UN peacekeeping duties.

These mission areas are located in Liberia, Golan Heights, Haiti, India, Pakistan, Sudan, Timor-Leste and Cote d’Ivoire.