The Philippine Army (PA) reiterated its commitment to work and train with like-minded nations as part of its efforts to beef up defensive capabilities.
“The PA is firmly committed to bilateral and multilateral training exercises geared at enhancing ground units’ capability development and supporting the active transition towards external security operations,” it said in a news release Thursday.
The statement was issued as PA key leaders, together with counterparts from the US Army Pacific (USARPAC), Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and Australian Army, concluded the two-day “Salaknib-Balikatan” (SABAK) 2027 Commanders’ Summit in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City on Wednesday.
The meeting is part of the planning sessions for the exercises scheduled for next year.
“Salaknib,” which means “shield” in Ilocano, is an annual, bilateral Army-to-Army exercise between the PA and the USARPAC aimed to enhance interoperability and readiness through combined arms operations, multi-domain integration, and humanitarian assistance efforts for regional stability.
Its first iteration took place in 2016 and now includes countries like Japan and Australia.
Meanwhile, “Balikatan”, which started in 1991, is the premier Philippine and US exercise designed to strengthen regional security through combined air, land, sea, cyber and space operations featuring maritime drills, coastal defense training, joint live-fire exercises and humanitarian projects.
Other allied nations of the Philippines and the US like Canada, Australia, Japan are now participating in the “Balikatan” drills.
The two-day Commanders’ Summit gathered leaders from four ground forces to review the results of the “SABAK” 2027 initial planning conferences and initial site surveys.
It also provided an opportunity to confirm exercise objectives, endorse key planning decisions, synchronize multinational training activities, allocate resources, resolve outstanding issues, and obtain commanders’ guidance to ensure the successful execution of the two key training exercises. (PNA)
