Phl-US exercises near Panatag to include live fire, seizure drills

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines and United States navies are deploying six warships and 1,000 sailors and servicemen in next week’s joint naval drill close to the Panatag Shoal, a rock formation off the coast of Zambales now being occupied by China.

Scheduled to be held Thursday next week until June 2, the joint naval exercises will be participated in by four US navy warships, the Philippine Navy’s flagship BRP Gregorio del Pilar and a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel as well as 1,000 combined onshore and offshore military personnel.

The naval drill will be held just 20 nautical miles off Panatag Shoal.

Naval Forces Northern Luzon Public Affairs Office Ensign Bernard Sabado said that just like in the past, the joint PHL-US naval exercises dubbed Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) will include live fire drills, maritime interdiction, ship boarding and seizure as well as aerial surveillance.

"In-port” activities will be conducted in several areas of Northern and Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog, specifically at the former US bases in Subic Bay in Zambales and at Clark Field in Pampanga and at the Philippine Marine training base in Ternate, Cavite.

With Panatag Shoal under their virtual control since last year, China has been imposing a three-layered naval and maritime defense around the Philippine-owned rock formation, effectively driving away Filipino fishermen from getting any closer to the shoal to fish.

Panatag Shoal or Karboro to the locals, which is only 124 nautical miles from mainland Zambales, has been a traditional Filipino fishing ground until last year when China illegally occupied the place in response to the Philippine’s Navy’s failed attempt to arrest Chinese poachers in the area.

Aside from a Chinese frigate that is currently imposing a 20-nautical mile security perimeter from the shoal, two to three maritime and surveillance ships are positioned in the inner perimeter and on a rotation basis have been guarding the entrance to Panatag's lagoon.