Joint Phl-US war games set in Palawan, Zambales

MANILA, Philippines - This year’s joint Philippine Bilateral Exercise (Phiblex) with the United States will be a bigger military exercise, and  will be held in Palawan and Zambales, a military official said yesterday.

“Tentatively, it is scheduled on Sept. 29 to Oct.  10 with 700 Philippine Navy and more or less 2,000 from the US,” said Navy public affairs office chief, Lt. Cmdr. Marideth Domingo. 

She said two US Navy ships will also be deployed in the yearly naval event.

Domingo said a series of exercises, including amphibious operations, tactical warfare simulation and maritime security planning will be held in Palawan; San Antonio, Zambales; Subic Bay in Olongapo City, and at the Marine base in Ternate, Cavite.

Troops from the Army and Air Force will train with their US counterparts at Crow Valley in Tarlac and Clark Air Field in Pampanga.

Domingo said Phiblex is a continuation of  joint war games with the US similar to the Balikatan exercises and the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training.

She said the war games have nothing to do with the maritime row in the West Philippine Sea.

“This is just for training purposes,” she said. “The general objective of Phiblex, like in any other exercises in the Navy, is to improve inter-operability and combat readiness of the participating forces as well as enhance security cooperation in the region.”