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PHL, Australia begin a new chapter in decades-long alliance amid evolving geopolitical developments
AN ALLY FROM ‘DOWN UNDER’
AUSTRALIAN Army soldiers from the 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment and Armed Forces of the Philippines soldiers conduct a large-scale combined amphibious assault exercise on Friday, August 25, 2023, at a naval base in San Antonio, Zambales. RILEY BLENNERHASSETT/AUSTRALIAN DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE VIA AP
A
Long-standing military partnership
By Rex Anthony Naval
BOND forged by the horrors, slaughter and devastation of the last global war further strengthened as Filipino and Australian troops for the first time ever conducted military exercises aimed at enhancing the interoperability and readiness of the participating forces aside from increasing their team capability to respond to any security challenges.
Dubbed “Exercise Alon” between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Australian Defense Force (ADF), the war drills formally opened aboard the Royal Australian Navy’s landing helicopter dock, HMAS Canberra,
at Darwin on August 14, and formally ended in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, on August 31. “Alon” is part of Australia’s Indo-Pacific Endeavor (IPE) 2023, which aims to promote security, stability, and stronger partnership
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. shakes hands with Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese before the bilateral meeting at the Malacañang palace in Manila on Friday, September 8, 2023. EARVIN PERIAS/POOL PHOTO VIA AP
AN Australian Army M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment lands on the beach during a large-scale combined amphibious assault exercise on Friday, August 25, 2023, at a naval base in San Antonio, Zambales. RILEY BLENNERHASSETT/AUSTRALIAN DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE VIA AP
through bilateral and multilateral engagement training, capacity building and humanitarian efforts. And its name (alon means waves in Tagalog), according to AFP public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Enrico Gil Ileto, connotes the prime characteristic of amphibious warfare. “The term ‘waves’ signifies the characteristics of amphibious warfare and emphasizes the projection of ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore,” he explained. Alon aims to enhance regional security through cooperation and partnership aside from enhancing interoperability and readiness to respond to shared security challenges of Filipino and Australian units. This year’s iteration included an air assault exercise in Palawan conducted on August 21, combined amphibious assault exercise in Zambales on August 25, and live-
fire training as the final phase in Capas, Tarlac, on August 31. “Exercise Alon” participants included an initial 560 personnel from the AFP, and 1,200 from the ADF, with support from 120 United States Marine Corps (USMC) personnel. Participating assets included the HMAS Canberra and frigate HMAS Anzac, with the Tarlac-class BRP Davao del Sur, close air support from Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-35A “Lightning II” aircraft, Australian Army M-1A1 “Abrams” main battle tanks and two PMC amphibious assault vehicles along with the USMC’s MV-22 tiltrotor “Osprey” aircraft. “Exercise Alon” enhanced the forces’ capability in conducting combined operations and improved their tactics, techniques and procedures on amphibious operations.
A resounding success
AND with the first-ever “Exercise Alon” being a resounding success,
its exercise director, PMC deputy commandant Brig. Gen. Jimmy Larida, is pleased to note that the strategic objectives of the AFP and ADF for the drills have been met. “So it is indeed a very successful exercise even though this is the first and big amphibious exercise between the ADF and the AFP, the planners and the training audience were able to jell immediately that [this] resulted in the success of the exercises both in the air assault in Punta Baja in Palawan and the amphibious assault in Zambales,” he said at the closing ceremonies on August 29. Larida also stressed that they will be able to improve the succeeding iterations, as they have identified areas where Filipino troops are proficient, and those where further improvements are needed. The PMC official also stressed that the next iteration of “Exercise Alon,” scheduled for 2025, will definitely be bigger than the first.
THE Philippines and Australia enjoy a deep bilateral relationship in the field of defense, dating back to World War II. Australia’s military involvement in the liberation of the Philippines began in June 1943, when eight Australian servicemen who had escaped from Sandakan in Sabah joined the Filipino guerrillas fighting in Tawi-Tawi. The Royal Australian Air Force or RAAF contributed to the Philippines’ liberation, beginning with photographic reconnaissance missions over the Philippines starting August 1944. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) contributed cruisers, destroyers, hydrographic survey and landing ships, while Australian Army soldiers served as analysts in the RAAF signals intelligence unit and as bombardment liaison teams and landing detachments aboard Australian warships. RAN ships also participated in the Battle of Surigao Strait on October 25, 1944, when the Japanese fleet was defeated while attempting to destroy the Leyte landing forces. No less significant was the Australian contribution to the second Allied landing in the Philippines on December 15, 1944. To guard against Japanese Navy interference from nearby Manila Bay, 24 RAAF “Catalina” bombers mined the entrance to Manila Bay on the eve of the landing. In the third and final major landing in the Philippines, 46 RAN sailors were killed in three separate attacks while Allied ships were approaching and in the Lingayen Gulf. RAN cruisers, destroyers, hydrographic survey and landing ships together with their Army detachments participated in the operation. Continued on A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.8490 n JAPAN 0.3860 n UK 70.9134 n HK 7.2522 n CHINA 7.7560 n SINGAPORE 41.6323 n AUSTRALIA 36.2526 n EU 60.8284 n KOREA 0.0426 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.1569 Source: BSP (September 8, 2023)