00:00The Philippines hosts joint maritime security exercises in the West Philippine Sea involving 11 ships from 8 countries.
00:07The exercises were held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, an intergovernmental forum of 11 states in
00:13Southeast Asia.
00:14The participating countries included the Philippines, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, the United States, and Japan.
00:22The exercises held in Zambales were part of the ASEAN Defense Minister's Meeting Plus, experts working group on maritime security.
00:28The exercises focused on interoperability among regional navies and included drills for medical evacuation, search and rescue, and aiding grounded
00:36vessels.
00:37The BRP Jose Rizal on Wednesday, September 23, was the lead ship for formation drills and a medical evacuation.
00:42The Japanese forces, meantime, led search and rescue efforts.
00:46The BRP Tarlak practiced aiding a grounded oil tanker and cross-deck landing drills.
00:51Representatives from China were present at the opening of the joint maritime exercises last Monday, September 21,
00:56but Beijing did not participate in the SEA phase.
