February 16, 2025 - In a show of solidarity, Canada’s warship HMCS Ottawa and the Philippine Navy’s BRP Andres Bonifacio frigate sailed side by side in the 7th multilateral maritime exercise in the West Philippine Sea on February 12.
In the air were the Philippine Air Force Search and Rescue and Beechcraft King Air C90 assets.The United States likewise participated in the planning, pre-sail conference, and monitoring.
The operational exercises focused on enhancing coordination and interoperability between the Philippines and Canada in the Indo-Pacific region. These exercises included communication check exercises, division tactics, photo exercise and expandable mobile anti-submarine training target exercise.
In a statement by the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Chief of Staff General Romeo S. Brawner, the maritime cooperative activity “underscores our shared commitments to upholding the right to freedom of navigation and overflight…as well as respect for maritime rights under international law as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).”
In 2016, an international arbitral court ruled in favour of the Philippines in its case against China over the exclusive economic zone identified within the seas surrounding the country.
The AFP also reported sightings of Chinese ships and a helicopter during the event but did not interfere with the joint drills. According to a statement by AFP public affairs office chief Colonel Xerxes Trinidad, “There were three (People’s Liberation Army Navy) ships, one oceanographic surveillance ship, and one helicopter monitored from a distance during the activity.
About the Author
Rachel Ramos-Reid started writing for magazines and newspapers when she was still a junior at the University of the Philippines’ Communication degree program majoring in Journalism. She continued to write in a public relations/corporate communications capacity in various private and government offices until moving out of the country in 1997 to work as Programme Officer for the arts and culture branch of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO-SPAFA) in Bangkok, Thailand. At the end of her term, Rachel found herself immigrating to Canada in the year 2000 and again searching for new beginnings.
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