THE governments of the Philippines and United States are set to hold a bilateral, interagency counterterrorism drill next week, the U.S. Embassy in Manila announced on Friday, September 15.
Dubbed as “Tempest Wind,” the drill will take place in the Philippines and Hawaii; and aims “to improve the ability of both nations to rapidly plan, coordinate, and conduct counterterrorism operations.”
The embassy further noted that the drill will be augmented by additional military assessments, national level engagement, and subject matter expert exchanges.
Apart from information exchanges, Tempest Wind is also recognized as “a way to test force readiness and exercise interoperability” that could help focus future bilateral training efforts to enhance the crisis response capabilities of both nations.
A decades-long ally of the Philippines, the U.S. has been providing technical assistance to Filipino troopers battling pro-Islamic State (IS) extremists in Marawi City, Mindanao.
Washington also recently donated P730 million ($15 million) in humanitarian aid for the ongoing relief operations and rehabilitation of the besieged city.
“The United States is a proud ally of the Philippines and will continue to provide support and assistance to Philippine counterterrorism efforts and work jointly to address shared threats to the peace and security of both countries,” the embassy said in a statement.
But Filipino activists expressed dissent over the American troops’ involvement in Marawi operations.
Also on Friday, hundreds of angry Filipinos rallied outside the U.S. embassy in Manila and clashed with police officers.
Video footage and photos captured by local news agencies show activists marching with banners that read, “US: Imperialist, # 1 terrorist. Hands off Marawi! US troops out now!”
Protesters also burnt effigies of U.S. President Donald Trump and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
Manila visit
Earlier this year, Duterte extended an invitation to Trump to attend the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Manila this November.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced in April that Trump would visit the Philippines, but when recently asked about the matter, Trump has yet to personally confirm his attendance to the summit.
“He (Duterte) invited us, so we’re going to see,” the U.S. president told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday, September 14.
He confirmed, however, that he’ll visit Japan, South Korea and China in November. He added that he might also fly to Vietnam later in the same month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference.
“We’ll probably all be going over (to Asia) in a group in November. And we’ll be doing Japan, South Korea, possibly Vietnam with the conference,” Trump said. n
