Manila Times reported yesterday that thousands of U.S. and Filipino marines have launched 10 days of joint exercises in the northern and western Philippines on Tuesday, a day after China held huge drills around Taiwan. “The annual Kamandag, or Venom, exercises are focused on defending the north coast of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon, which lies about 800 km from self-ruled Taiwan,” they report.
Philippine Marine Corps commandant Maj. Gen. Arturo Rojas stressed at Tuesday’s opening ceremony in Manila that Kamandag was long planned and had “nothing to do with whatever is happening in the region.” Filipino exercise director Brig. Gen. Vicente Blanco told reporters: “We are not exercising to join the fight” over Taiwan.
