PHL, Japan explore ways to deepen security ties, eye joint military drills

By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES and Japan’s top military officials met on Monday to discuss defense cooperation and efforts to keep regional peace, including potential joint military drills.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Vice Chief of Staff Jimmy D. Larida met with Japan Self-Defense Force Vice-Chief of Staff Matsunaga Koji during his courtesy visit to Camp Aguinaldo, the military’s headquarters in the Philippine capital, on April 7, according to an AFP statement late Monday.

Their meeting centered on ways to advance their security partnership, including future joint military exercises between Philippine and Japanese forces to improve interoperability and combat readiness.

“During the meeting, both leaders expressed appreciation for the significant progress in bilateral military ties,” the Philippine military said.

The Philippines is forging deeper security ties with western countries and regional allies like Japan and Australia amid tensions with China over disputed features in the South China Sea. Japan has been at odds with China over the uninhabited Senkaku Islands.

Philippine forces have repeatedly sparred with Chinese ships and aircraft in the South China Sea over competing claims on Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal, among other sea features. Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost the entire sea based on a 1940s nine-dash line map that overlaps with the maritime zones of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

A United Nations-backed arbitration court voided China’s expansive claim in 2016 for being illegal.

BRP MIGUEL MALVAR
Also on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. led the arrival ceremony for the Philippine Navy’s newest corvette from South Korea at the Philippine Naval Operating Base in Subic, Zambales province.

The 118-meter warship is armed with missiles and torpedo systems and is fitted with sonar, radar and electronic warfare capabilities. BRP Miguel Malvar, the namesake of its ship class, left South Korea in late March.

“BRP Miguel Malvar is here today not only to serve as a deterrent and protector of our waters, but also as an important component in joint and combined operations as we work alongside allies and uphold the norms of international law,” Mr. Teodoro said in a statement.

The Philippine government in 2021 contracted Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. to build two Miguel Malvar-class corvettes worth a total of P28 billion. It also awarded a P32-billion contract to the South Korean company in 2022 to build six offshore patrol vessels, set to be delivered by 2028.

Manila has turned to Seoul as its trusted supplier of warships. It bought two guided missile frigates worth P16 billion from the same South Korean shipbuilder back in 2016.

Mr. Teodoro said the arrival of BRP Miguel Malvar would help the Philippines develop its so-called blue economy, making the most out of its rich marine resources.

The Philippines’ exclusive economic zone is ecologically rich and a vital source of food for Filipinos, according to a 2019 report by think-tank Stratbase-ADR Institute.

MORE MILITARY HARDWARE
Meanwhile, Philippine Navy Rear Admiral Roy Vincent T. Trinidad said they are looking at boosting maritime domain awareness capabilities by pushing the purchase of land-based, air-based, ship-based and space-based sensors.

“This will support all comprehensive archipelagic defense operations,” he told a news briefing.

The military might buy more modern equipment to help elevate its capabilities against the backdrop of China’s military might in the region, eyeing additional missile systems from India and at least two submarines, AFP Chief of Staff Romeo S. Brawner, Jr. said in February.

Also on Tuesday, the presidential palace said President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is concerned about the near-collision between vessels of the Chinese Coast Guard and Philippine Coast Guard near Zambales province at the weekend.

“Of course, the President is concerned about these incidents,” Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Clarissa A. Castro told a news briefing. “However, we continue to maintain a level of professionalism combined with a fearless spirit of patriotism.”

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.

In a statement on April 5, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it had issued a radio challenge to the Chinese ship to stop it from approaching the coast of Palauig, Zambales.

PCG spokesman Commodore Jay Tristan Tarriela told a news briefing on Monday that the presence of the Chinese vessel showed Beijing’s strategy of trying to normalize its presence in the South China Sea.

The incident happened on Sunday after the 44-meter BRP Cabra nearly collided with the 99-meter Chinese Coast Guard vessel 3302.

“Through the seamanship skills of the Philippine Coast Guard sailors, we were able to prevent such collision from happening,” Mr. Tarriela said.

At a House of Representatives hearing on Tuesday, Mr. Tarriela said they have seen an uptick in disinformation campaigns targeting the country’s claims in the South China Sea.

The PCG has compiled a report covering the past two years and came up with a three-tiered framework of how disinformation against the Philippines’ South China Sea claim spread, he told congressmen.

“We have seen a high number of fake news, disinformation and misinformation when it comes to the West Philippine Sea,” he said, referring to areas of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The House launched an investigation in January into online disinformation campaigns, with lawmakers proposing measures to curb their spread, including the creation of a social media regulatory body.

China and the Philippines have been at loggerheads over disputed features in the South China Sea, with Manila accusing China’s coast guard of aggression and Beijing furious over what it calls repeated provocations and incursions.

More than $3 trillion worth of trade passes yearly through the South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety. A United Nations-backed tribunal in 2016 voided its claim for being illegal.

The Philippines is in the third phase of its modernization program called Horizons. It has earmarked $35 billion for the military buildup in the next decade as it seeks to counter China’s military might in the region. — with John Victor D. Ordoñez