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PH, US open joint naval exercise; 7 other countries to participate

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Bianca Dava, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - The Philippines and the United States formally opened their annual bilateral navy-to-navy drills called “Exercise SAMASAMA” on Monday.Philippine Navy Flag Officer-in-Command Vice Admiral Toribio Adaci Jr. said this year’s iteration of Exercise SAMASAMA aims to strengthen further international defense cooperation between the Philippines and the US.The drills will also inculcate in the navies of both countries the doctrine of the rules-based international order, Vice Admiral Karl Thomas, commander of the US 7th Fleet, added.“The ruling of the international tribunal speaks for itself. The ruling upheld the sovereign rights of the Filipinos in the West Philippine Sea and that is basically following international law. This is what we promote,” Adaci told reporters after the opening ceremony at the Philippine Navy Headquarters in Manila.“When we operate and demonstrate as a team… I think what we want is that the normal rules-based international order that has served our region so well by operating and following the laws have been upheld and are very clearly stated in doctrines like the UNCLOS,” Thomas, for his part, said.He then continued, “When we operate as a team, we demonstrate to all nations in the region that it is important to follow the rule of law, uphold the rule of law. We all want peace in this region. By demonstrating that we know how to operate in accordance with the rule of law, we decrease the chance for miscalculation.”A total of 733 navy troops from the Philippines and 632 from the US will participate in the two-week military drills.For the second year in a row, the exercise will also include other foreign participants from Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Australia. They will participate in subject matter expert exchanges and events related to humanitarian assistance and disaster response.Members of the Royal New Zealand Navy and Indonesian Navy will also join as observers.“We thought of expanding it to become a multilateral exercise. Four nations have sent their ships for some exercises at sea. Other navies will participate in other events like HADR, SMEEs. Not all eight participating countries will do exercises at sea. Some are observers, some are sending their SMEs for discussions on several issues,” Adaci explained.“What does it demonstrate? I think it’s really important that we recognize that the global maritime commons are used by everybody, and everybody wants global maritime commons to be free and open. Our navies inherently sail and operate together. When we do exercises like SAMASAMA, it allows us to focus our efforts to improve across all the countries and navies. The focused opportunity that the Philippines and the US bring to other nations by doing SAMASAMA improves our capability as a group of navies,” Thomas said.He went on, “We all learn from one another. It gives the team an opportunity to experience what they may not when we don’t have these organized exercises. I’m all in in making the exercise broad and inclusive because we all learn something from it and we will all get better.”The drills will be conducted in Metro Manila and at the Naval Forces Southern Luzon.The Philippine Navy vessels that will be used during the sea phase include BRP Antonio Luna (FF151), AW109 naval helicopter and C-90 aircraft.“This exercise has many aspects, one of which is HADR and lectures, not necessarily intended for a particular adversary. This is strengthening our competencies of our sailors and marines. This is promoting interoperability and alliances and partnerships. It doesn’t have to be conducted necessarily at a particular place,” Adaci answered when asked why the exercise will not be conducted in the West Philippine Sea.The annual Exercise SAMASAMA comes on the heels of fresh tension between Manila and Beijing over the West Philippine Sea, where massive coral damage has been observed. The Philippines suspects this could be China’s doing.China has also consistently drove away Filipino fishermen, and shadowed, blocked and harassed Philippine ships on rotation and resupply missions in the West Philippine Sea.“It’s important that all nations have a right to sail and operate in the West Philippine Sea, free from worrying about being attacked, and attack is a strong word. I’d say free from being coerced or intimidated. We want the commons to be common, open and free,” Thomas noted. “Showing a strong team that will operate together as a group of navies, that can be nothing but strengthen the deterrence to maintain the peace.”<div>RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jxmVythW444?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></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>

The Philippines and the United States formally opened their annual bilateral navy-to-navy drills called “Exercise SAMASAMA” on Monday.

PH, US open joint naval exercise; 7 other countries to participate

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PH, US open joint naval exercise; 7 other countries to participate

Bianca Dava,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 02, 2023 05:31 PM PHT

Read More:

Navy

Philippine Navy

US Navy

Exercise SAMASAMA

joint exercise

West Philippine Sea

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