BALIKATAN 2025 Update

PH, US troops engage in construction works ahead of ‘Balikatan’

MANILA – Engineering units of the Philippine and US militaries are constructing a multi-purpose facility for residents of Barangay Dagupan, Lal-lo, Cagayan as part of this year’s “Balikatan” exercises, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Friday.
Taking part are the Philippine Air Force’s 355th Aviation Engineer Wing and the US Marine Corps’ Marine Wing Support Squadron 174, AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said in a statement.
“The construction started on March 24 and is expected to be completed on May 7. The ‘multi-purpose facility’ is one of the engineering civic action program sites for Exercise Balikatan 40-2025,” he added.
Balikatan 2025 is scheduled to begin in late April and end in mid-May.
“This initiative underscores the AFP’s commitment to strengthening its capabilities and fostering stronger partnerships with allied forces in support of regional security and community development,” Trinidad said. (PNA)

‘Full battle test’ for this year’s Balikatan drills — AFP chief

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. on Tuesday said that this year’s “Balikatan” exercise will feature a so-called “full battle test” where all military doctrines and procedures will be tested.
The AFP chief made this comment during his speech at the 38th founding anniversary of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom), based in Camp Servillano Aquino, Tarlac City.
“In a matter of days, we will be starting our ‘Balikatan’ exercises (with American military forces.) This is the 40th iteration of the ‘Balikatan’ exercises and most of the exercises will be conducted here in the area, the joint operational area of Nolcom,” he said.
Nolcom covers Ilocos, Cordillera, Cagayan Regions and Central Luzon.
This year’s “Balikatan” exercise is scheduled for late April up to mid-May. No specific details regarding participating troops, assets and types of drills that will be conducted are still to be released.
“Under your joint area of operations or joint operational area, most of the activities of the ‘Balikatan’ will held there. And then again, our (command and control), will be utilized to ensure that we have a common operational picture while we are conducting our full battle test,” the AFP chief said.
This, Brawner said, involves testing all of the plans, doctrines, procedures that have developed in the past years.
“And this year we are going to test them. It’s very important that we prepare for any eventuality,” he stressed.
However, Brawner did not specify what these plans, doctrines and procedures were for security reasons.
“When I talk about warfare, we are already at war. I am not referring to the kinetic warfare that we see between Ukraine and Russia or between Israel and Hamas. But we are experiencing already cyber warfare, information warfare, cognitive warfare, political warfare,” he added.

Nolcom, a shield against external threats
As this developed, Brawner lauded Nolcom for being a formidable shield against external threats.
“In fact, Nolcom is our frontliner here in the northern hemisphere. And as we saw a while ago in their shift to territorial defense, they have gone a long, long way already,” he added. (PNA)