AFP to increase West Philippine Sea operations

MANILA, Philippines, January 7 ------ The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday assured the public that while it expects China to continue its illegal presence and activities in the region, the military will increase and sustain its operations to secure and defend the West Philippine Sea.

Combined and joint naval exercises with allied nations will also continue as the military now considers maritime cooperative activities as “part of our operational design” instead of just being training events. “If we look at the trend from 2024 to 2025, the actions of the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) Navy, Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia is toward the integration of their respective forces. We expect this trend to continue. Not only in the sea, but even air. There have been reports of joint patrols to include Air Force bombers, PLA Air Force. This will continue in 2026,” Philippine Navy spokesman for the WPS Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad said. “Likewise, the AFP, more than ever, we are up to the challenge. We are ready for any eventuality given our current capabilities, not only ourselves, but in conjunction with like-minded nations,” he added.

Trinidad said the activities of the Department of National Defense (DND) and military are being sustained and boosted through modernization that would include capacity building and maritime domain awareness. “Number two, our defense diplomacy has been very strong. We now have five strategic partners or SOVFAs (Status of Visiting Forces Agreement) with other countries, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada, with more coming up,” he noted. “For each activity conducted as a result of this defense diplomacy, there are corresponding actions conducted by the Chinese Communist Party in the WPS. We expect that for the year 2026. We will continue, the Department of Defense and the AFP will continue its robust approach for defense diplomacy through modernization and capacity building in order to allow us to respond to any threat or challenge in the WPS,” he asserted.

Source: philstar.com