Philippine Troops Practice Seizing Island as S. China Sea Tensions Simmer
The Philippine military is carrying out a rare drill to simulate capturing an island in the South China Sea, a maneuver that might be used in the event of a hypothetical conflict in the Spratly Islands.
"This year’s exercise will . . . simulate our territorial defense plan Bantay Kalayaan alongside a Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC)," AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said at an opening ceremony Monday.
Brawner referred to the service's new focus on defending the Philippines from an external threat, rather than the internal security threats that the AFP has focused on for decades. While the threat was not named explicitly, China has steadily encroached on the archipelago to the west of the Philippines' home islands, and has spent an estimated $50 billion on military infrastructure around the South China Sea.
"This Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept is an indication that the government is finally taking our external defense challenges seriously," defense expert Prof. Renato de Castro of De La Salle University commented earlier this year. "The big challenge is this external security threat [China] that is really actively taking our waters and our natural marine resources. If they are not stopped there, it is certain that in the future they will enter our interisland waters and our resources."
China will be watching the exercise, and its forces have been especially active during the run-up. Last week, the PLA Navy conducted its first-ever two-carrier exercise with the flattops Liaoning and Shandong, a visual display of its growing naval ambitions. The carrier Shandong left the Philippine Sea and returned to the South China Sea on Monday night, according to an intelligence briefing released by Japanese officials.
The Chinese carriers Shandong and Liaoning operate together in China's first dual-carrier exercise, October 2024 (PLA)
At the same time as the start of the AFP exercise, Manila's National Economic and Development Authority Board announced that it has approved a $440 million program to buy 40 fast patrol craft for the Philippine Coast Guard, with financial support from the French government. The PCG is the nation's front-line agency in the Spratly Islands, and is involved in most of the major confrontations with Chinese forces.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has also deployed troops to prepare for the arrival of Typhoon Marce, which is expected to hit Cagayan province on Thursday night. The storm could affect more than 20 million people, and residents in particularly vulnerable areas have been advised to evacuate. Soldiers have been put on alert to get ready for the post-storm recovery, and relief aid supplies have been stockpiled nearby.