The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) conducted a Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA) with its counterparts from Australia, Japan and the United States on Wednesday in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, promoting a “free and open Indo-Pacific region.”

AFP chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said the MMCA demonstrates a collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation among the Philippines’ allied nations.

Brawner said the country’s naval and air force units operated together with their allied counterparts “to enhance cooperation and interoperability among the armed forces.”

He noted the MMCA was conducted “consistent” with international law and with due regard for the safety of navigation, and the rights and interests of other States.

“This underscores our shared commitments to upholding the right to freedom of navigation and overflight, other lawful uses of the sea and international airspace, as well as respect for maritime rights under international law, as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” Brawner stressed.

Meanwhile, AFP Public Affairs Chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the armed forces of the four nations will conduct maritime engagements in a designated exercise box within the country’s EEZ.

“Today is the start of the exercise so everybody should be steaming going to the [area], magkikita (they will meet there), and then all the different formations and exercises will be conducted on the said exercise box,” Trinidad explained.

The Philippine EEZ is 200 nautical miles from the baselines of the country’s territorial seas, which also covers the West Philippine Sea.

The Philippines has exclusive sovereign rights to explore for and exploit the living and non-living natural resources of both the water column in its EEZ and the seabed beneath the continental shelf, as per the mandate of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.