Marcos Jr. has 'great interest' in attending Balikatan live-fire drills: AFP

Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt=" Representatives of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the United States Armed Forces attend the opening ceremonies of the RP-US Balikatan Exercises at the Tejeros Hall, AFP Commissioned Officers Club Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City on April 11, 2023. Jonathan Celllona, ABS-CBN News " src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/04/12/20230411-balikatan-exercise-opening-jc1693.jpg"/><figcaption>Representatives of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the United States Armed Forces attend the opening ceremonies of the RP-US Balikatan Exercises at the Tejeros Hall, AFP Commissioned Officers Club Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City on April 11, 2023. <em>Jonathan Celllona, ABS-CBN News </em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has shown &quot;great interest&quot; in watching the live-fire drills in this year&#x27;s &quot;Balikatan&quot; exercises with the United States, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Wednesday. </p><p>AFP Spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said Marcos was invited in this year&#x27;s Balikatan, which is considered the largest-ever joint combat military drills of Manila and Washington. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/11/23/philippines-us-kick-off-largest-ever-joint-military-drills">Philippines, US kick off largest-ever joint military drills</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/12/23/kicking-off-philippines-drills-us-vows-defense-in-s-china-sea">Kicking off Philippines drills, US vows defense in South China Sea</a></li></ul><p>&quot;He showed great interest in watching the live-fire exercise. But as to his schedule, I am not privy to it,&quot; Aguilar said in a public briefing. </p><p>The military spokesman said he is &quot;not very sure&quot; of the President&#x27;s attendance. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/12/23/afp-to-give-aid-to-fishers-affected-by-balikatan">AFP to provide aid to Zambales fishers affected by &#x27;Balikatan&#x27;</a></li></ul><p>About 12,200 American, 5,400 Filipino and over 100 Australian soldiers will participate in the two-week Balikatan exercises, or &quot;shoulder to shoulder&quot; in Filipino, that opened Tuesday. For the first time, this year&#x27;s iteration will include a live-fire drill in waters off Zambales province.</p><p>In an interview with ANC earlier in the day, Aguilar said the <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/15/23/balikatan-2023-includes-live-fire-exercises-in-zambales-waters">live-fire drills</a> will happen for &quot;a few hours&quot; on April 26, noting its impact on the livelihood of the fishermen there. </p><p>US Embassy in the Philippines Press Attaché Kanishka Gangopadhyay told ABS-CBN News in a Viber message that the AFP has sent out invites as exercise hosts, but he has no information so far regarding Marcos&#x27; possible attendance to the drills.</p><p>ABS-CBN News reached out to Press Secretary Cheloy Garafil on the matter but she has yet to respond as of this story&#x27;s posting. </p><p>Last month, Marcos took flight aboard one of the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) FA-50PH fighter jets as part of the aircraft’s defense capability demonstration flight at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/07/23/marcos-jr-rides-fighter-jet-in-paf-demo-flight">Marcos Jr. rides fighter jet in PAF demo flight</a></li></ul><p>He said he wanted to board an Air Force jet since he was young, which was why he grabbed the opportunity when asked to participate in the demonstration.<br/> <br/>“Matagal ko nang gusto gawin iyon pero hindi ako naging piloto kaya nag-take advantage na ako. Pinagbigyan naman ako,” he said.</p><p>(I&#x27;ve always wanted to do that, but I&#x27;m not a pilot so I took the advantage. I was given the chance.)</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2579843" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

AFP Spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. is interested to watch the live-fire drills in this year's Balikatan.

Marcos Jr. has 'great interest' in attending Balikatan live-fire drills: AFP | ABS-CBN

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Marcos Jr. has 'great interest' in attending Balikatan live-fire drills: AFP

Marcos Jr. has 'great interest' in attending Balikatan live-fire drills: AFP

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Apr 12, 2023 05:35 PM PHT

Read More:

Medel Aguilar

military exercises

Balikatan

AFP

Ferdinand Marcos Jr

Bongbong Marcos Jr

live fire

live fire drills

live fire exercises

military drills

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