PH, US Armed Forces To Simulate Defense Of Island Near Taiwan In 'Balikatan' Exercise

Philippine and American military soldiers are set to conduct training exercises on defending the island of Batanes from possible intruders following the province's declaration of support for the biggest-ever "Balikatan" military exercise in the country.

Local government officials, village heads, church leaders and leaders of various sectors in the province expressed their support for the military drills during the Key Leaders Engagement Forum in Batanes on Monday.

In the forum, Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) officials explained the purpose of the Balikatan exercises in supporting the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to test its capabilities in performing interoperability missions with soldiers of allied nations and preserve its territory.

Composed of three inhabited islands in the northernmost tip of the Philippines, Batanes is the country's smallest province located 120 miles away from the South of Taiwan.

Nolcom briefed local officials about the activities included in the Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) military drills to avoid panic among residents of Batanes.

"There's a scenario where the island gets occupied by a fictitious country and the training troops will take it back," Nolcom deputy commander for training Lt. Col. Loel Egos said in this Inquirer report.

The military drills will include air assault exercises that use helicopters to recover territory that has not yet been claimed fully by the enemy. Participants of the Balikatan will also conduct non-standard maritime and free-fall infiltration and the transport of the state-of-the-art High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) via Landing Craft Utility.

The military drills are set to be conducted on Saturday and Sunday depending on the weather condition.

Some 12,000 American troops and 111 Australian soldiers are part of this year's joint military exercises scheduled on April 11 to 28. It also includes the U.S. military's newly-established 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, a stand-in force trained for a shore fight against the Chinese military.

The Balikatan exercises come amid China's increasing assertiveness in the West Philippine Sea.

The other day, Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian "advised" the country against siding with Taiwan for the benefit of the 150,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) on the self-governed island.

While the Chinese embassy explained that Huang's remarks were taken out of context, Senator Risa Hontiveros called for Malacañang to urge Beijing to remove Huang from his post. Migrante International also expressed dismay over the Chinese official's words and noted that "Beijing makes it appear that China is holding OFWs in Taiwan hostage."