Philippine, United States, Japan hold joint sail in West Philippine Sea

MANILA, Philippines — For the fifth time this year, warships of the Philippine Navy, United States military and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) sailed the high seas together within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) yesterday.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is yet to release details about the 5th Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA) and where exactly it is being conducted.

Japan’s JS Samidare is apparently among the warships joining the activity, considering it has been docked in Manila’s Pier 15 since earlier this week for a pre-sail conference.

“The 5th MMCA participated in by the combined armed and defense forces of Japan, the Philippines and the United States is taking place today, Dec.6, within the country’s EEZ,” AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said.

“It aims to reinforce interoperability among the participating nations in a manner consistent with international law and with due regard for the safety of navigation and the rights and interests of other states,” he added.

Trinidad said the AFP together with Australia, Japan and the US conducted a pre-sail conference aboard the Samidare on Wednesday.

According to him, the conference brought together maritime defense experts from participating nations to exchange best practices and operational insights.

“This includes the alignment of tactics, techniques and procedures to address shared security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region,” Trinidad said.

The Philippine Navy’s first MMCA with Japan, the US and Australia was held last July in the waters of the West Philippine Sea.

Despite the country’s problems with China in the area, the AFP has repeatedly emphasized that such combined maritime sails and exercises are not directed at any country.

The military maintains that MMCAs are interoperability exercises between allied nations conducted within the territorial waters and EEZ of the Philippines.

Canada and New Zealand also participated in the 3rd and 4th iteration of the MMCA in August and September this year, which the AFP and other participating foreign navies stress are being held to uphold the right to freedom of navigation and overflight, other lawful uses of the sea and international airspace and respect for maritime rights under international law.

Nurturing ties

The United States government has reiterated its commitment toward “nurturing and strengthening ties with the Philippines” amid the challenges of a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world.

“We need strong, stable relationships to face the volatility in the world today,” US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson said in a speech before members of the Rotary Club of Manila on Thursday.

She said the US and the Philippines are “steadfast friends, partners in prosperity and ironclad allies” and there is no doubt that such relationship “will become more important as we face the pressures of a VUCA world.”

“It is essential that we continue to work together to maintain the positive momentum we have generated over the past years, and foster greater stability in this region and in the world,” she added.

Carlson acknowledged that the phrase known as VUCA “certainly characterizes the world we live in – including here in Southeast Asia, where we see state actors undermining international rules and norms, the continued threat of violent extremism and the unpredictable and increasingly damaging effects of climate change.”

To face such turmoil, she said her perspective is the diplomatic, national security-focused view, noting that in her 39 years as a diplomat, she has seen some turbulent times.

“And in my opinion, the best way to counter that turbulence is to promote, foster and nurture stable relationships – like the US-Philippine bilateral relationship,” Carlson said.

She stressed that the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty has helped maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region since 1951, and that this treaty was further bolstered by the bilateral Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, or EDCA.

“Today, our forces work shoulder-to-shoulder, during complex exercises such as Balikatan, to increase interoperability. We’ve also seen them come together when disaster strikes. Confronting the seven major storms that struck the Philippines this year, our forces collaborated with the Philippine Office of Civil Defense and USAID to bring badly needed relief supplies to communities,” she said.