Warships converge in Manila in May

MANILA, Philippines — Warships from the US, Russia, China and other foreign naval powers will be converging in the country to take part in the International Fleet Review (IFR), a sea exercise to promote better maritime understanding among the participating navies.

The event will be hosted by the Philippine Navy (PN) in time for its 122nd founding anniversary this May. 

Navy chief Rear Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said the US, Russia, China along with 15 other countries have confirmed that they are sending their warships to the Philippines to take part in the IFR.

“As of closing time yesterday of our IFR planning and preparation held at Manila Diamond Hotel, 17 countries have committed to send a total of 22 warships,” said Bacordo, referring to the end yesterday of the two-day final planning and preparation meeting for the IFR.

Bacordo said that Russia’s plan to send warships to the Philippines for this year’s IFR was personally relayed to the Navy by Moscow’s military attache in Manila.

Russia said that aside from a surface ship that would be joining the IFR, it is also sending its submarine to the naval exercise.

US and China, meanwhile, have yet to inform the Navy leadership how many and what type of warships they are sending to the IFR.

He said that more warships are expected to join the yearly international naval event once the participants have finalized their respective naval deployments.

“As soon as the participating navies have finalized their respective plans, more ships are expected to participate,” Bacordo said.

He added that almost all navies in the Indo-Pacific region have confirmed their attendance to the naval event, which was held in China last year.