Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
THE Philippines and its allies, led by the United States, will hold naval exercises starting next week in Southern Luzon, the military said on Wednesday.
Dubbed “Samasama,” the drills will run from Oct. 2-Oct. 13, 2023 at the Naval Forces Southern Luzon (NFSL) Area of Operations.
Lt. Col. Enrico Ileto, head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Affairs Office, said that this year’s exercises aim to further strengthen international defense cooperation and advance a rules-based international order.
The French Navy and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) will also be sending personnel to join the drills.
The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) and Indonesian Navy (IN) will participate as observers.
The exercises will also have a parallel training module to improve “maritime integration and combined interoperability” with the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF), RAN, Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), and the United Kingdom (UK) Royal Navy through “subject-matter expert exchanges (SMEE) and humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) table-top events.”
The other interests during the drills are fundamentals of anti-submarine, anti-surface, anti-air, and electronic warfare. The exercises come amid the ongoing conflict in the South China Sea between the Philippines and China. — Francisco Tuyay
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