Philippine, U.S. troops end joint military exercises

¡¡¡¡MANILA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine and U.S. military Sunday concluded a two-week annual joint military exercises at the Clark former U.S. airbase north of Manila.

¡¡¡¡This year's Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises, conducted on a yearly basis under the Philippine-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty and Visiting Forces Agreement, was one of the smallest in scale ever since it was launched decades ago.

¡¡¡¡Balikatan exercises public affairs director Captain Estevyn Ducusin said Filipino forces "honed their skills" during the exercises in operating with their American counterparts, in which 400 American soldiers and 1,200 Filipino troops participated.

¡¡¡¡"The activities successfully promoted interoperability among AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and U.S. forces, developed capable AFP Rapid Deployment Force," Ducusin said, adding that the exercises supported the country's humanitarian and civic assistance campaign through combined efforts of the Philippine and U.S. forces in conducting multiple medical, dental, veterinary and engineering civic action projects.

¡¡¡¡Other venues of this year's exercises are Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City and the island province of Sulu 900 km south of Manila, where American and Filipino troops launched civic action programs.

¡¡¡¡Sulu also is the battlefield where Philippine forces have been hunting down Abu Sayyaf rebels for more than half a year.

¡¡¡¡In Camp Aguinaldo, the two forces conducted a week-long staff exercises or table top exercise where they worked on a scenario on a maritime threat and came up with an operation plan to address the perceived threat.

¡¡¡¡This year's Balikatan exercises did not include field training exercises or live fire exercises which were held in the past years in Luzon.