US, Philippine troops in bulked-up drills
Number of troops taking part in the drills has increased by a third from last year to 8,000
US and Philippine troops stormed ashore from the disputed South China Sea yesterday for military exercises that President Rodrigo Duterte had promised to scrap, but quietly allowed to carry on.
The decades-old tradition appeared headed for the history books last year as a newly elected Duterte pivoted toward China — and away from longtime Philippine allies the US.
But the number of troops taking part in the drills has increased by a third from last year to 8,000, a return to figures seen in years past when the exercises served as a thinly veiled deterrent to a rising China.
The reason for Duterte’s change of heart on the twoweek drills code-named “Balikatan”, or “Shoulder-toShoulder”, may be down to what experts see as efforts by the Filipino military to restrain their unpredictable president.
“The fact it’s being done under this administration means they [Duterte’s government] now have a better understanding of the security equation,” political analyst Victor Andres Manhit told journalists.
Scarborough Shoal
Though the bulked-up manoeuvres — including a live-fire component that was dropped last year — took place on a naval base just 180 kilometres east of the Filipino-claimed Scarborough Shoal that China has controlled since 2012, the drill’s leaders barely mentioned Beijing.
“We are an island nation. That’s why we need to improve our capabilities on amphibious operations,” Philippine MajorGeneral Emmanuel Salamat told reporters.