Expanded Balikatan war games touted with Japan's

Expanded Balikatan war games touted with Japan's | Daily Tribune

The Philippines will continue expanding the scale of the Balikatan Exercises with more partner nations participating, as Japan carried out its first-ever missile firing on Philippine soil during the 2026 drills.

“I’m very, very proud and happy that we were able to pull this off for the first time, and it will only get larger in scope with more partners,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. told reporters after witnessing the recent maritime strike exercise in Paoay town.

The live-fire exercise featured the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) launching two Type 88 surface-to-ship missiles from Ilocos Norte, marking the first time Japan fired the missile system overseas as part of a multinational military exercise.

The missiles struck their target within six minutes, hitting the decommissioned Philippine Navy vessel BRP Quezon (PS70) positioned around 75 kilometers offshore.

Teodoro said the exercise highlighted the growing interoperability among the Philippines and its allies amid increasing regional security challenges.

“Makikitang napaka-complicated nitong exercise na ’to. From planning to forming to resource management, so it will only get smoother and better,” he said.

“We have seen how it [Type 88 missile system] works and it is something that we can interoperate with in the future,” he added.

Japan’s participation in this year’s Balikatan marks a major shift from its previous role as observer in the annual joint exercises between Philippine and United States forces.

Teodoro also credited President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for supporting efforts to strengthen the country’s defense posture and resilience capabilities.

“And I have to thank the President for his steadfast leadership of making sure that our resilience efforts are going on unhampered, and his strong leadership has propelled us to converge and to interoperate and build deterrence for shared threats,” he said.

According to Teodoro, the exercises are not only aimed at improving military coordination but also enhancing disaster response capabilities in the country’s archipelagic environment.

“You can see this is a very complicated area to operate in. But can you imagine if there’s, God forbid, a natural calamity? We will know how to help each other in this area,” he noted.

“It also upgrades the skills and the awareness of our troops in the capabilities that our allies have and in coordination mechanisms with the different participants. So, it’s a complex exercise, actually. The culmination was simple—a missile firing—but to get there was very difficult, and we surmounted the obstacles,” he added.

Teodoro likewise dismissed criticisms from some progressive groups that the expanded military drills contribute to the “militarization of the Philippines,” stressing that the exercises are transparent and anchored on national defense.

“Well, militarization or national defense? There’s always a claim of militarization, but it’s under the control of civilian authorities,” he said.

“And these things should have been exercised and done a long time ago—this being an archipelago,” he added.