MANILA, February 26 ------ The Philippine Navy has noted a significant decrease in the coercive actions of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy whenever the Philippines is engaged in a maritime exercise with its allies and partner nations in the West Philippine Sea. “Actions of the government to bring in other nations to observe and protect the rules-based international order are very much welcome, and we have noted a marked decrease in the illegal and coercive actions of the PLA Navy each time there is a multilateral or bilateral maritime cooperative activity,” Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad told reporters during a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. “Expect that there will be more of these activities to come in the future,” he added.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Navy conducted a maritime cooperative activity (MCA) in the West Philippine Sea on Friday, involving some of the Philippine and French military’s sea and air assets. Trinidad said no Chinese vessels were monitored in the vicinity of the exercise area. “During the conduct of the maritime cooperative activity with the French Navy and the Armed Forces, there were no PLA Navy, Coast Guard or maritime militia noted within close proximity. They were at a distance of more than 120 nautical miles away,” he noted. “While we do not control the actions of the PLA Navy, the Coast Guard or the maritime militia, I would like to highlight that the presence of foreign navies in our maritime domain only speaks of the strengthening of relationships between the country of that particular navy. In this case, with the French Navy and the French government,” he further said.
The MCA with France marks the AFP’s third consecutive week of joint maritime activities with partner nations in the West Philippine Sea. The activities are designed to enhance the participating countries’ interoperability, communication and defense capabilities.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
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