FILIPINO and Australian forces yesterday “stormed” Palawan beach as part of the “Exercise ALON 2025” that is being held amid what the Philippine military said is a “tense but manageable” situation at a feature in Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.
Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr, interviewed after the exercise, emphasized the importance of the drill noting “threats that we are facing.”
He did not mention China which has become aggressive in its claims in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea in the past years. The Chinese have gone to the extent of harassing Philippine government vessels and aircraft and even Filipino fishing boats.
Last week, the military reported an “increased presence” of Chinese vessels at Ayungin Shoal, a Philippine-occupied feature in the West Philippine Sea, which is some 108 nautical miles from Rizal, Palawan.
The military said five Chinese Coast Guard vessels, with 11 rigid-hulled inflatable boats and maritime militia vessels, conducted drills in the area.
The Chinese also set up fishing nets in the area, which were later removed by the Filipino troops due to risks they post to vessels.
Yesterday’s activity under the Alon exercise, called the Combined Joint Forcible Entry Operations, was held in San Vicente town in Palawan, which is fronting the West Philippine Sea.
It was witnessed by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr and visiting Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles. About a thousand troops “retook” the area occupied by a notional enemy.
“Our scenario was we had a beach landing and we had to retake an objective … As we have seen, it’s very successful,” Brawner said of the activity which featured land, sea and air assets from the two sides.
Brawner noted the participation of Australian F-18 fighter jets in the activity, along with FA-50s of the Philippine Air Force, one of the several main events under Alon which opened on August 15 and is due to end this Friday.
“We were joined by the US Marines,” Brawner added giving figures.
Brawner said aircraft dropped bombs during the exercise, followed by gun fire from Philippine Navy ships.
“Then, that was the time our amphibious forces assaulted the beach,” said Brawner.
On the utilization of land, sea and air assets in yesterday’s drill, Brawner this was the result of the “modern warfare” that they are seeing.
“We have to be able to fight in all the domains,” said Brawner.
‘VERY IMPRESSIVE’
Brawner said a similar exercise was held by the Philippines and Australia in Zambales in 2023 during the first Alon exercise.
“This time we (did) it here in Palawan and it is very significant because of the threats that we are facing,” said Brawner.
“Palawan is one of those areas (where we are facing threats) so we have to be able to rehearse the defense of our western seaboard. That’s why we did it in Zambales (before) and then this time here in Palawan,” said Brawner.
Teodoro described the exercise as “very impressive.”
“This is a new venue and you saw that the coordination between the Australian and the Philippine forces was smooth. So, we hope to be able to logisticize and to think of new scenarios as it evolves,” he said.
Teodoro said the exercise required “tremendous amount of logistics and planning.”
“I think credit also goes to not only those who actually participated in the assault, but those who went into the months of planning, months of preparation,” he said.
Marles hailed the synergy of the Australian and Filipino troops during the exercise.
“This exercise is about Australia and the Philippines, and there’s a Canadian and a US component to it. It’s about our relationship with those countries as well,” said Marles.
“But this is about building the interoperability between two countries which share values and have one intent, and that is to uphold the rules-based order in this region,” he added.
MOBILITY
Brawner, on the situation at Ayungin Shoal, said it is “improving,” adding the military has been “successful” in pushing the Chinese farther from the shoal.
On the fishing nets laid by the Chinese, Brawner said the commander of the AFP Western Command (Westcom), Vice Adm. Alfonso Torres Jr, ordered troops to “cut the fishing nets so that mobility would still be allowed within the shoal itself.”
“This is in preparation, of course, for our resupply mission that we are going to do one of these days,” he said.
Brawner was referring to the rotation and reprovisioning (RORE) of troops at Ayungin Shoal. The military’s last RORE took place in May, without any untoward incident.
Troops occupying the feature are billeted at the BRP Sierra Madre, a rusting Philippine Navy ship that was grounded at the feature in 1999 to serve as military outpost.
“They (Chinese) have a constant presence in that area but they are far. At least, we were successful in pushing them outward,” said Brawner.
Without giving details on the next RORE, Brawner said the military preparations for the next mission will be same as before.
“We believe that the agreement that was set by the Department of Foreign Affairs and their Chinese counterparts still stand,” he said, referring to a provisional agreement reached by the two sides, ending Chinese harassment that disturbed earlier ROREs.
“We are optimistic that when the time we conduct the resupply, they are going to respect our resupply mission and they will allow us to go there,” said Brawner.
“But then again, I’ve been telling this to our troops, it is our right to do the resupply mission because it is our right to support our troops at BRP Sierra Madre,” he said.
‘TENSE BUT MANAGEABLE’
In an interview with the radio dzRH, AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla described the situation at Ayungin Shoal as “tense but manageable.”
Padilla said troops continue to man their position at BRP Sierra Madre and they remain committed to their duty to “protect our territorial integrity.”
“Our Westcom is already on their toes monitoring the situation. We are continuously performing our legitimate duties in our exclusive economic zone and are going to maintain our position with maximum tolerance,” she said.
“However, we are not going to allow any attempt to compromise our integrity of our installations there or endanger our personnel,” he added.
In the event the Chinese will board BRP Sierra Madre, Padilla said the response is better left to military commanders on the ground.
“Our troops follow standard protocols and rules of engagement. So they remain professional and composed despite these current provocations,” she said.
Padilla also said the increased Chinese presence at the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal will not deter the AFP from conducting RORE missions for the troops at the BRP Sierra Madre.
She said it is the responsibility of the Armed Forces to “maintain the morale and welfare” of its troops who are deployed at the shoal.
“Of course, we will look out for their welfare. So we will continue (doing RORE missions). Whatever the situation may be, we will continue to conduct our rotation and resupply mission,” she said.
Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, said in an interview with radio dzBB, “It is our moral obligation to feed our men….That (BRP Sierra Madre) is our ship, we have troops there (and) we have to feed them. So the RORE will be conducted, the men will be supplied and will be fed.”
Trinidad did not say when the next RORE will be conducted but assured the public that the troops will be resupplied and “they will never left behind.”
