Philippine, U.S. troops to conduct small scale joint exercises this year

Philippine and U.S. troops will conduct a month-long joint military exercises, Philippine military announced on Tuesday.

"Based on its annual program, the Philippine army will engage in a one-month joint and combined training exercise with the United States special operations forces in November to December this year," Army Col. Benjamin Hao, a spokesman for the Philippine army, said in a statement.

He said that at least 18 American soldiers from the U.S. Special Operations Forces and 56 Philippine army soldiers will take part in the exercises called "Balance Piston" that will be held starting Wednesday until Dec. 14 at a maritime training facility in Puerto Princesa and at a military camp in Rizal, in Palawan.

Hao said the training will focus on "enhancing the war fighting capabilities and interoperability of both the Philippine army's special operations command and the U.S. special operations forces."

Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said last week that the Philippines and the U.S. armed forces will push through with the scheduled joint war games next year.

However, he said that the joint exercises planned for next year would be "scaled down," adding that the three big exercises would be "whittled down to just one."

Lorenzana said that the exercises would focus more on human assistance and disaster response.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has given the go-ahead for the small scale exercises but voiced hope that it would be the last, saying he does not want foreign troops on Philippine soil.

Besides Duterte said that the war games benefit the U.S. troops more than the Philippine troops.

The U.S. and the Philippines traditionally conduct three major joint exercises - Balikatan or shoulder-to-shoulder, CARAT and PHIBLEX - and 28 minor cross-training exercises every year, including the so-called Passing Exercises between the U.S. and Philippine navies in the South China Sea. Endit