MANILA (AFP) – The Philippines launched on Wednesday two days of joint sea and air exercises with the United States, Canada and Australia.
The manoeuvres will be held “within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone”, top military officials of the four nations said.
Manila held separate naval exercises in the South China Sea last week, first with the United States and then with Japan two days later.
A joint coast guard exercise is also scheduled off Manila Bay on Friday between the Philippines and Vietnam.
The Philippines has a mutual defence treaty with the United States and signed a treaty with Japan last month that will allow the deployment of troops on each other’s territory.
The “multilateral maritime cooperative activity” will be the first as a group by the four nations and involve naval and air force units, a Filipino military spokesman told AFP.
“The naval and air force units of participating nations will operate together enhancing cooperation and inter-operability between our armed forces,” said the joint statement, which did not name the participating vessels and military units.
