The Armed Forces of the Philippines and Australia have launched their first joint maritime patrol as part of the inaugural Maritime Cooperative Activity in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.
According to a joint statement issued by Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and Philippines’ Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Theodoro Jr., the Maritime Cooperative Activity “represents the practical implementation” of the Strategic Partnership signed between the two countries in September and will be held from November 25 through 27.
“The Maritime Cooperative Activity highlights our shared commitment to exercising freedom of navigation and overflight consistent with international law, in support of a peaceful, secure and stable Indo-Pacific,” the statement said. “Australia and the Philippines both support the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and reaffirm the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal Award as final and legally binding on both parties.”
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also took to X to declare that the Maritime Cooperative Activity highlights Australia’s and the Philippines’ “shared commitment to supporting the rules-based international order and a more peaceful, secure, and stable Indo-Pacific region.”
The joint patrol activity is expected to involve several vessels of the Philippine Navy and the Royal Australian Navy, as well as surveillance aircraft from their respective air forces.
Earlier this week, the Philippines resumed joint maritime patrols with the United States in the South China Sea, as Marcos Jr. moved to ramp up defense cooperation between his country and the US.
This development occurred as the United States seems intent on increasing its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region and to back countries that have territorial disputes with China, such as the Philippines.