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2026 Balikatan biggest yet despite US war with Iran — AFP

Despite the US' ongoing war with Iran, this year’s Balikatan exercises with the US military will be the biggest ever yet, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on March 24, 2026.

VIDEO BY JAMES DANIO

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Transcript
00:00Okay, so the Reciprocal Access Agreement with Japan was recently ratified by both of our Congress, the Philippine Congress and
00:13the Japanese NIAs, last year, 2021.
00:17So this year, 2026, the RAA now allows Japanese troops to come to the Philippines to join the Balikatan exercise.
00:31So for the very first time, after a very very long time, combat troops from Japan and the Japanese Self
00:41-Defense Forces will be coming here to the Philippines to join us in the Balikatan exercise.
00:47I cannot divulge the exact numbers or what type of units are coming in or the pigment that they're coming
00:56to bring here, but suffice it to say that they will be sending out the bigger contingent to join the
01:07Balikatan exercise.
01:08Can you share where they will be the reward or which exercises they will be participating in?
01:13They will be participating most of the exercises.
01:18Kasi yung Balikatan exercise natin is composed of several exercises.
01:22We have the field training exercise, the command force exercise, cyber exercise, etc.
01:27So they will be joining most of us.
01:30So they will be joining most of us.
01:30Sir, may they will get involved with the live fire exercise?
01:33I cannot divulge that.
01:35Sir, may names na po?
01:37It will be April to May.
01:41It will not be a long time.
01:43Yes, April 20 maybe.
01:4520?
01:45Then sir, may you ask,
01:46hindi ba nag scale down because of what is happening in Iran?
01:50Like in the US troops sir, hindi ba sila nagpahas?
01:52No, no. We received the confirmation from Admiral Paparo himself. He said that this will still be the biggest balikatan
02:02exercise despite the war going on in the Middle East.
02:07Sabi niya, hindi tayo ma-affectuhan. Tuloy pa rin lahat ng ating mga plinano, ng mga activities, and yung scale
02:13and scope ay pareho pa rin.
02:15Sir, BRP Malvar was reported the scandal by the Chinese FCB. Any comments?
02:25So, ang comment ko lang is that maganda ang naging reaction ng ating mga trope because we countered their or
02:33we challenged that action by China.
02:36Kasi pagka, parang, parang tinutok mo yung baril mo sa isang tao by that action by China. And we called
02:48them out for that.
02:49So, nung challenge tayo, ay tinigil naman nila yung inawang ito.
02:58Sir, dun sa balikatan. So, you mentioned still the biggest. So, what will we view this year?
03:06How different is it from last year's statistic right now? Describe as one of the biggest dipeneration.
03:11So, aside from having more participants this year, may kita po natin that with the participation of Japan, for instance,
03:24this will expand the scope of our defensive operations.
03:29Dahil ngayon, kasama na natin hindi lamang yung Estados Unidos at ang Australia sa maghahanda ng pagdepensa natin, hindi lamang
03:40ng Philippine archipelago but even our common areas.
03:44So, mas mapapalaawak na ngayon yung mga gagawin natin ng exercises at mas makapaghanda tayo for any eventuality, whether it
03:56is man-made or natural.
03:58Kasi hindi lamang gera naman yung gagawin natin. We are also preparing for disasters.
04:05Kasi, kapunat ng Pilipinas, ang Japan ay parati rin tinatamaan ng mga pagyo, marami silang mga earthquake, may tsunami pa
04:15sila.
04:16So, pare-pareho tayo ng na-experience dito sa Pacific Rim of Fire.
04:22Will there be new exercises and new capabilities that will be utilized this year?
04:28We will be focusing also more intently on cyber exercise, cyber defense exercise.
05:00Outro Music
05:04Richter
05:05Myself
05:09Devore見
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