PH, US, Japan forces train to defend major shipping lane

MANILA, March 6 ------ A ranking Philippine Navy (PN) official said the just concluded 15th multilateral maritime cooperative activity (MMCA), held in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and up to Batanes Group of Islands, trained Filipino naval forces to defend a major international shipping route. "First and foremost, the 15th MMCA was conducted between the Philippines, the United States and the Japanese self-defense forces. This was conducted in the waters west of the country all the way up north to the Babuyan Group of Islands. It's the first time that we have reached that part of the country, the northern islands, Babuyan and Batanes Group of Islands. It's a great accomplishment on the part of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines)," PN spokesperson for the WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said in an interview with reporters.

The 15th MMCA took place from Feb. 20 to 26, and involved naval and air units from the AFP, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and the US Indo-Pacific Command. Trinidad said a lot of "integrated activities" took place between the participants that include communications, cross-deck activities, ship-to-ship, and air-to-air exercises.

Asked if the 15th MMCA reached up to the Bashi Channel, which is the international name for the strait between Taiwan and Yami Island, Trinidad said participants only reached the Balintang Channel. Balintang and Bashi Channels are adjacent and connected to each other. "We refer to the Balintang Channel as the body of water beneath or in the southern part of the Yami towards Luzon mainland. So we did not cross, we did not go beyond our northernmost island. So the exercises were conducted in the Balintang Channel. The significance of this is that it allows the PN, the Philippine Air Force for the component, joint headquarters for the coms (communications) and the overall C2 (command-and-control)," he added.

Also, Trinidad said Bashi Channel is classified as a "sealane of communication" or SLOC that allows access from South China Sea to the Pacific Ocean. "A lot of international maritime traffic passes through that, international trade. If I'm not mistaken, USD5 trillion annually passes through the Bashi Channel," he added.

Trinidad said it is highly important that the country is able to defend such waterways or SLOC, in line with the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC) which calls for the Philippine military to defend all Philippine territories including its 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone (EEZ). "The thrust of the CADC is to be able to secure and to protect our maritime entitlements all the way up to the EEZ and even the extended continental shelf, not only the Bashi Channel or Balintang Channel," he said.

Source: pna.gov.ph