MANILA, Philippines – Pinuri ni Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. at Australian Deputy Prime Minister at Minister for Defense Richard Marles ang joint military drill na isinagawa sa San Vicente, Palawan noong Linggo bilang bahagi ng Exercise Amphibious and Land Operations 2025 (Exercise ALON 2025).
“The exercise was very, very impressive,” saad ni Teodoro.
“This is a new venue and you saw that the coordination between both the Australian and the Philippine forces was smooth. So, we hope to be able to logisticize and to think of new scenarios as it evolves,” dagdag niya.
Ang Combined Joint Forcible Entry Operations ay kinabibilangan ng integrasyon ng Philippine at Australian amphibious forces na suportado ng naval, air, at ground elements.
Ipinakita ng ehersisyo ang kakayahan ng dalawang bansa na magsagawa ng coordinated naval gunfire support, amphibious assault, at maritime strike missions.
“A tremendous amount of logistics and planning have gone into what we witnessed here. I think credit also goes to not only those who actually participated in the assault, but those who went into the months of planning, months of preparation,” ani Teodoro.
“Things like this are done with advanced planning, with the realization that in a moment’s notice, let’s say for a typhoon or for whatnot, we may have to operate together.”
Ang Deputy Minister na si Marles, sa kanyang bahagi, ay pinuri ang “synergy” sa pagitan ng mga kalahok na pwersa. Binigyang-diin niya ang kahalagahan ng naturang pakikipag-ugnayan para sa interoperability sa pagitan ng Pilipinas at Australia.
“This exercise is about Australia and the Philippines, and there’s a Canadian and a US component to it. It’s about our relationship with those countries as well,” saad ni Marles.
“But this is about building the interoperability between two countries which share values and have one intent, and that is to uphold the rules-based order in this region,” dagdag niya.
Kasama sa Exercise ALON 25 ang humigit-kumulang 3,600 tauhan mula sa Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Australian Defense Force (ADF), United States Marine Corps, at Royal Canadian Navy. RNT/MND
