MANILA, Philippines - The United States has deployed its newest and most advanced surveillance aircraft for patrols over the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea.
The P-8A Poseidon aircraft completed more than 180 flight hours from Feb. 1 to 21 from Clark Air Base, according to the US Navy’s 7th Fleet.
The US Navy said the flights sought to “strengthen maritime partnerships in the Indo-Asia-Pacific.”
Armed Forces spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla said the surveillance aircraft patrolled the West Philippine Sea “to ensure freedom of navigation and security of sea lanes of sea communications.”
“It is in the interest of everyone to ensure that commerce and trade really flow in these seas and that it is not hampered,” Padilla told a press conference yesterday. “It is in the interest of everyone that we watch over this with our allies.”
He said the deployment of the surveillance aircraft did not violate Philippine sovereignty.
“It was approved under the MDB-SEB (Mutual Defense Board – Security Engagement Board) under the purview of the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT),” he pointed out.
The Philippines signed the MDT with the US in 1951 “to strengthen... collective defense for the preservation of peace and security.”
The treaty serves as the basis for the two country’s successive defense deals, namely the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
Padilla clarified that the flights were not directed against China, which has been occupying and building structures in disputed areas to assert its territorial claims.
China claims most of the potentially energy-rich area, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims.
“They (US) said they don’t take sides in the dispute in Asia and we respect the United States for that statement but just the same, it is to the interest of everyone to ensure that commerce and trade really flows in these seas and that it is not hampered,” Padilla said.
Pelicans of Patrol Squadron (VP) 45, the unit handling the P-8A Poseidon, hosted members of the Philippine Air Force and Navy in what it described as a “familiarization flight.”
The 7th Fleet said the flight provided an opportunity for the US to “increase understanding and showcase the capabilities of the Navy’s newest maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft.”
“It was a remarkable opportunity to work alongside the members of the Filipino Armed Forces,” said US Navy Lt. Matthew Pool, Combat Air Crew 4 patrol plane commander.
The Philstar
