A total of 16,000 personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States Armed Forces will participate in the 39th iteration of the Manila-Washington bilateral Balikan Exercise, which will begin on 22 April.

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

Logico confirmed that at least 14 countries, including Germany, Japan, India, Australia, and member countries of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations, will send participants as observers to the Balikatan exercises.

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

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

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.