Philippines, US, Australia hold joint sail in the West Philippine Sea
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines deployed fighter jets alongside naval vessels to the West Philippine Sea on Tuesday, April 29, in a joint maritime exercise with troops from the United States and Australia.
The joint patrol — the ninth overall multilateral maritime cooperative activity between the Philippines and allied countries — comes amid flaring tensions between Manila and Beijing after troops from both countries took turns unfurling flags on a disputed sandbar near Pagasa Island earlier this week.
The joint sail on Tuesday involved three FA-50PH fighter jets, the Philippine Navy's BRP Antonio Luna, an AW159 anti-submarine helicopter, and search and rescue aircraft from the Philippine side.
The United States deployed F-16 and F-18 fighter aircraft along with a B-1B long-range bomber, while Australia participated with the HMAS Sydney.
The three-nation maritime exercise — conducted within the Northern Luzon Command's joint operational area — included communications checks, rotary flight operations, vertical replenishment, photo exercise, air patrols and anti-submarine warfare drills, according to the AFP.
The exercise "demonstrates the growing synergy among like-minded partners in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific," AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said in a statement on Wednesday, April 30.
In a separate statement, the Philippine Air Force highlighted the significance of the aerial component of the joint patrol, noting that the deployment of air assets strengthens collaboration and enhances interoperability between Filipino and American forces.
China has consistently opposed such joint patrols in the South China Sea, the near-entirety of which it claims as its own, even waters that overlap with the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla on Wednesday defended the exercise from criticism of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command.
"The conduct of joint exercises and maritime domain awareness operations within our territorial waters and exclusive economic zone is not a provocation — it is preparedness," Padilla said. "These are deliberate, lawful actions anchored on international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea."
The AFP spokesperson reiterated the Philippines' right to conduct joint patrols as a sovereign state.
"No foreign power can dictate how we defend our home or with whom we stand in solidarity," Padilla added.
Earlier this week, the Philippines accused China of falsely claiming it had taken control of a sandbank near Pag-asa Island in the South China Sea over the weekend.
To prove that China had not seized control of the Sandy (Pag-asa) Cays, the Philippines deployed a contingent of naval and Coast Guard personnel to the sandbar where they unfurled the Philippine flag and took photos.
The Sandy Cays refer to three small coalescing sand bars located less than 3.5 nautical miles from Pag-asa Island, which is the seat of governance of the Philippines' Kalayaan municipality.
Pag-asa itself lies outside the Philippines' EEZ but has been occupied and administered by the Philippine government since 1971.
- Latest
- Trending
