Philippines, US hold ‘bilateral sail’ in Palawan waters

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and the United States, utilizing one of each other’s most advanced warships, yesterday cruised the waters of the West Philippine Sea in what the military called a bilateral sail activity aimed at enhancing interoperability.

The Philippine Navy’s guided-missile frigate BRP Jose Rizal and the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile-destroyer USS Ralph Johnson sailed side by side in Philippine waters 12 to 24 nautical miles from Palawan.

The joint activity was led by the Naval Task Force 41 of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Command (WESCOM) and the US Seventh Fleet.

AFP Public Affairs Office chief Lt. Col. Enrico Ileto said the two warships carried out a division tactics rehearsal that sought to enhance interoperability between the two navies.

Ileto said the bilateral sail was a testament to a robust maritime cooperation between the Philippines and the US under the Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board framework.

The AFP official emphasized that the event particularly aimed to provide an opportunity for the Philippine Navy and the US Indo-Pacific Navy to test and refine existing maritime doctrines and demonstrate their defense capabilities in line with the shared commitment of upholding peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.

The AFP shall continue to be involved in bilateral and multilateral activities that will contribute to its capability development to perform its mission of protecting the country’s national sovereignty and national territory, according to Ileto.

AFP-WESCOM spokesman Commander Ariel Coloma said the one-day activity is different from the planned joint maritime sovereignty patrols of the Philippines and the US and other countries like Japan and Australia.

“The joint sail is being done within our territorial waters while the joint patrol is somewhere outside of our territorial sea,” Coloma explained.

He also noted that the joint sail is not related to recent issues with China or directed at any country as the Philippines is only exercising and implementing a maritime activity with the US.

“This particular activity … has been agreed upon by both forces of the US and the Philippines and as host country, we actually have the leeway to do this as long as it is both planned by two forces to develop and further strengthen our cooperative ties and also interoperability with our foreign counterparts,” he said.

He added that the goal of enhancing interoperability is focused on external security and territorial defense operations, but the activity is not about China and is different from plans to hold joint maritime patrols in the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea.

Manila has repeatedly complained against what it described as China’s “aggressive” actions in the South China Sea, including the use of a water cannon by its coast guard against a Philippines vessel engaged in a resupply mission on Aug. 5.

China has built militarized, manmade islands in the South China Sea, and its claim of historic sovereignty overlaps with the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

The Philippines won an international arbitration award against China in 2016, after a tribunal said Beijing’s sweeping claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea had no legal basis.