Philippines, U.S. to review joint military exercises in Hawaii meet

APD NEWS

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The Philippines and the United States will review its joint military activities when their military leaders meet in Hawaii Wednesday.

The two sides are expected to decide which joint war exercises will be conducted next year, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Tuesday.

At a joint Philippine and U.S. joint news conference, Lorenzana said Gen. Eduardo Ano, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff has flown to Hawaii for the annual Mutual Defense Board and the Security Engagement Board (MDB-SEB) to make an assessment of the activities shared by both militaries.

"They will discuss there what exercises will be pursued, what will be removed, what will be downgraded, what will be upgraded," Lorenzana said, stressing the need to assess the new security environment confronting the Pacific region.

The Philippines, a treaty ally of the U.S., work through existing bilateral security mechanisms, such as the MDB-SEB, to operationalize the joint military activities they plan to conduct.

Washington and Manila have long been conducting joint military activities to bolster the combat readiness of the AFP and to maintain the interoperability of the AFP and the U.S. military forces.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)