Balikatan Exercise Between PH, US Forces Allowed By President Duterte
The annual Balikatan Exercise between Philippines and US forces were allowed by President Rodrigo Duterte, according to Defense Secretary Lorenzana.
On Monday (November 07, 2016), Lorenzana said in an interview that the president allowed Balikatan exercise to continue but disabled the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) and the Amphibious Landing Exercise or PHIBLEX. Also, the 2014 PH-US Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) have been revoked.
The defense secretary also said that the joint military exercise will be more on humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HA/DR), engineering and civic action projects, and counterterrorism. All of these are based on the recommendations given by the defense last week during the Cabinet meeting.
Major exercises such as CARAT and PHIBLEX were removed while small exercises recommended by the defense were approved by Duterte. Balikatan is an annual engagement of US military and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to intensify the ground, sea, and air operations.
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