Members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States Marine Corps conduct a live-fire exercise against an imaginary enemy target facing the West Philippine Sea at the Laoag Sand Dunes in Ilocos Norte on May 6, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Laoag City

Bianca Dava

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1715076039350viber_image_2024-05-06_14-26-00-281.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States Marine Corps conduct a live-fire exercise against an imaginary enemy target facing the West Philippine Sea at the Laoag Sand Dunes in Ilocos Norte on May 6, 2024. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — It’s all systems go for a maritime strike, the highlight of this year’s Balikatan exercise between the Philippines and the United States, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Tuesday.</p><p>In a press briefing in Laoag City, AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said all the air, naval, and land components of the two countries’ military forces will take part in sinking the decommissioned Philippine Navy ship BRP Lake Caliraya during the drills.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/4/23/old-china-made-ship-to-be-sunk-in-balikatan-drills-ph-navy-says-1754">READ: Old China-made ship to be sunk in Balikatan drills, PH Navy says</a></div><p>“By integrating our systems and processes, and creating an integrated network, we are improving the combined capabilities of our AFP-US force. For maximum training value, we want to strike the target vessel,” Padilla told reporters.</p><p>Formerly known as M/T Lapu-Lapu, the “made in China” BRP Lake Caliraya was donated by the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) to the Philippine Navy in 2014. It was decommissioned in 2020.</p><p>In an April 20 editorial piece, China’s state-run newspaper Global Times claimed that the move to use the Chinese-made oil tanker as a target in the annual bilateral exercise between Manila and Washington “shows clear provocative intent.”</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/4/21/philippines-us-launch-annual-joint-military-drills-724">READ: Philippines, US launch annual joint military drills</a></div><p>But the AFP reiterated that this is just coincidental.</p><p>“For Balikatan, this is the 39th iteration, so we have different scenarios based on contemporary challenges. It is not directed to any particular country. It’s directed towards fostering a greater defense posture in any kind of scenario,” Padilla noted.</p><p>She continued, “There is really no correlation as to the source of this ship. We take into perspective kung ano ang assets na pwede nating gamitin for this exercise. It’s purely coincidental but it’s really not directed towards the purpose of the source of such vessel.”</p><p>On Tuesday afternoon, the BRP Lake Caliraya was being towed by the tugboat Procyon to its final destination off the coast of Ilocos Norte.</p><p>Meanwhile, the AFP official said there have been no untoward incidents in the Balikatan exercise so far, due to extreme heat.</p><p>Padilla assured that Filipino and American soldiers are “actively following safety measures to mitigate the effects of the extreme weather condition.”</p><p>The heat index in Laoag City has been reaching up to 45 degrees Celsius.</p><p>“We have established hydration stations throughout the training areas, ensuring that all personnel have access to water and electrolytes to stay hydrated,” Padilla said.</p><p>“Medical teams are also embedded in the trainings to immediately respond to any untoward incident that may arise during the activities,” she added.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s3ekOmBoLEM?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>It’s all systems go for a maritime strike, the highlight of this year’s Balikatan exercise between the Philippines and the United States.</p>

It’s all systems go for a maritime strike, the highlight of this year’s Balikatan exercise between the Philippines and the United States.

AFP: All systems go for ship-sinking exercise in Balikatan | ABS-CBN

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AFP: All systems go for ship-sinking exercise in Balikatan

AFP: All systems go for ship-sinking exercise in Balikatan

Bianca Dava,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 07, 2024 06:33 PM PHT

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BRP Lake Caliraya

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