The Philippine Army said the public should not worry about the deployment of the Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile system in the country.

Army spokesperson Col. Louie Dema-ala clarified to the Daily Tribune that the Philippines is only maximizing the United States Army’s deployment of its MRC missile system in the country to improve interoperability, readiness, and defense capabilities. 

“The main purpose of MRC here in the country is solely for training purposes only. What the Philippine Army is doing is simply enhancing its interoperability and capability for territorial defense,” he said. 

Dema-ala said the MRC was fully utilized during the recently concluded Exercise ‘Balikatan’ (shoulder-to-shoulder) between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States Armed Forces earlier in May. 

It was also used as training equipment during the first phase of the ‘Salaknib’ Exercise, an annual Army-to-Army combat drill between the Philippine Army and the US Army Pacific. 

Result of mutual agreement

Dema-ala said bringing MRC here in the country “is a result” of planning phases for the Salaknib, noting that it was agreed upon by both countries.

“As to who brought up the idea of bringing the MRC, I am not privy to the discussions during the planning phase. However, since it is an organic capability of the MDTF (Multi-Domain Task Force) of the US, they have to bring in MRC. We took the advantage since it’s here to familiarize our troops on the basics of MRC,” Dema-ala pointed out. 

The Army official said the MRC remains in the country as it is still being utilized in the second phase of the Salaknib Exercise, which started on 11 May.