Brawner: New Task Force Philippines an expansion of TF Ayungin

The newly formed Task Force Philippines is an expansion of the earlier Task Force Ayungin, which was originally focused on operations in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said Tuesday. 

“They said that actually, it’s a result of Task Force Ayungin becoming bigger and covering a bigger area, not just Ayungin,” Brawner told reporters.

According to Brawner, the new structure may serve as a counterpart organization between the Philippines and the United States, similar to arrangements during joint military exercises such as Balikatan.

“Katulad nitong ‘pag nagkaroon tayo ng Balikatan exercise, meron tayong Joint Task Force Philippines at meron tayong Task Force na galing sa US,” he said.

(“Like when we have a Balikatan exercise, we have a Joint Task Force Philippines, and there’s also a Task Force from the US.”)

“So, ang nakikita ko maaaring ito yung gamitin nila na counterpart ng Philippines,” he added.

(“I think they will use it as their counterpart in the Philippines—this Task Force Philippines of the United States.”)

When asked whether the US-led task force would include a naval component, Brawner said he could not yet confirm the exact composition.

“Hindi ko pa masabi ng tiyak dahil hindi ko alam exactly kung ano yung composition nito,” he said.

(“I can’t say for certain because I don’t know exactly what its composition is.”)

He added, “I guess. I just can’t confirm it now.”

Brawner emphasized that based on initial information, the Task Force Philippines on the US side would likely be a “complete task force,” capable of operating across all domains of warfare, including land, sea, air, and possibly cyberspace.

“As of what we heard so far, this Task Force Philippines will be a complete task force. So that it will be able to address all the domains of warfare,” he said.

The creation of the new joint task force comes amid continuing tensions in the WPS, where Chinese vessels have been increasingly active near Philippine-held features such as Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) and Scarborough Shoal.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. earlier said that the newly launched Task Force Philippines with the US is expected to enhance credible deterrence and improve disaster response by strengthening coordination and streamlining actions across relevant agencies.

He explained that the initiative serves as an operational arrangement between the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (Indo-PACOM) and the AFP, bringing together various bilateral defense activities under a single, coordinated framework.