FILIPINO troops regained control of an island in the contested West Philippine Sea (WPS) in the South China Sea Wednesday, under an “island seizure” scenario that was part of the military exercise DAGIT-PA (Dagat, Langit, Lupa) that started on Monday.
Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr, who witnessed the island-retaking exercise at Kota Island, said the drill serves as a warning to potential foreign aggressors that the military is capable of defending Philippine islands.
The 12-day AFP Joint Exercise DAGIT-PA (Dagat, Langit, Lupa) involves some 3,000 Filipino troops and key assets of the Navy, Air Force and the Army.
Under the exercise on Wednesday, Kota Island was seized by enemy forces, prompting Navy and Air Force troops to launch operations to retake the island.
The 10.9-hectare Kota Island is about 190 nautical from Rizal, Palawan. It is among the nine features occupied by Filipino troops in the West Philippine Sea.
“What we did today is island seizure exercise and island defense … We’ve witnessed how effective is the inter-operability of our Philippine Air Force, Philippine Navy and our special operations forces,” said Brawner.
A Philippine Air Force plane dropped supplies to Filipino troops who Brawner said were “very successful in retaking or seizing the island” during the drill.
“This is not the first time that we conducted this kind of exercise, the island seizure exercise. But this is the first time that we conducted this at Kota Island… We are warning our neighbors or external forces that we are capable of defending our islands … In case something happens, external forces enter our territory or sovereign areas, we need to defend our nation on our own before we ask help from other countries like our allies and our partners,” he said.
Several Chinese Navy and militia vessels were sighted near the area during the exercise but they did not interfere.
“We were expecting it. They watched what we were doing. As I said, this is the first time we held it (island retaking exercise) here. It seems they were curious about what we’re doing but we welcome that, it adds realism to the exercise,” said Brawner.
AFP Western Command commander Vice Admiral Alfonso Torres Jr said the exercise was meant to test the interoperability of AFP units.
“It is very crucial for us to enhance of course our capability right here in the West Philippine Sea … for us to show our firm resolve of defending our sovereignty and sovereign rights,” said Torres.