A total of 16,000 composite personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and United States Armed Forces will soon participate in the 39th iteration of the Manila-Washington bilateral ’Balikatan’ Exercise beginning 22 April. 

Balikatan Executive Director Col. Michael Logico, in a press conference on Wednesday, said there will 11,000 personnel from the USAFP will train side-by-side with 5,000 AFP troops in war games.

Logico confirmed at least 14 countries will be sending participants as observers during the 'Balikatan' Exercises, including Germany, Japan, India, and Australia as well as other countries from the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations. 

The military official said the 'Balikatan' exercise “is a demonstration of combat readiness. The entire intent is to deter and if we cannot deter, we will defend, and when we defend, the objective is to win.”

“Well the message that we want to send is that, we are serious defending our territory,” Logico added. 

Several activities for the Balikatan exercise are to be conducted in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, and Palawan—extending beyond 12 nautical miles in international waters, referring to the West Philippine Sea.