Philippines, US end counter-terrorism exercise

September 26, 2017

Amid the ongoing battle against terrorists in southern Philippines, the Philippine and United States government conducted a counter-terrorism exercise that ended Tuesday.

In a press conference in Camp Aguinaldo, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced the exercises dubbed as “Tempest Wind 2017” is pursuant to the pronouncement of President Rodrigo Duterte to honor all the agreements of the Philippines with other countries.

“Particularly those that pertain to humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) and counter terrorism,” Lorenzana said.

“Guided by the said pronouncement the Mutual Defense Board and security engagement, MDB-SEB ( Security Enhancement Board) of both US and the Philippines scheduled various exercises and drills on HADR ( Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response) and counter-terrorism which included the Tempest Wind 2017,” he added.

Lorenzana emphasized that unlike other exercises between US and Philippines, Tempest Wind 2017 is not only participated by the military but also other government agencies.

“The Tempest Wind 2017 is a whole government activity, meaning that it’s not only a military exercise but includes also civilian agencies, and management, crisis management counter terrorism and security operations from the US and from the Philippines,” he said.

“The drill was designed to provide realistic scenarios and terrorism that demanded both high level engagements from these countries on a tactical level,” he added.

US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim said the “interagency drill for both sides intended to test and improve the ability of our nations to plan, coordinate and conduct counter terrorism operations.

“Over 12,000 United States and Philippine civilian and military participants contributed to this exercise,” he said.

Lorenzana said the exercise focuses on an aircraft hijacking scenario which was designed to improve coordination and synchronization among the participants.

Department of National Defense (DND) Public Affairs Chief Arsenio Andolong said other agencies that participated include the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group, US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Andolong said based on the scenario an American airline from Sydney, Australia is bound for Hawaii but was diverted to Clark Airbase in Philippines because of the instruction of ISIS-inspired terrorists that hijacked the aircraft.

He said the aircraft with a total of 162 Filipino and American passengers and crew onboard arrived in Clark Airbase in Pampanga last Wednesday and the incident was resolved with the killing of eight terrorist last Friday.

Lorenzana emphasized the importance of such training for the government forces as the country is also facing terrorist problems.

“The activity also serves as a perfect opportunity to assess the need for the new security environment in the pacific region especially now that terrorism has come into our lands, now more than ever that all countries must come together to unite against terrorism and violent extremism,” he said.

“The global war on terror cannot succeed if we cannot explore avenues for cooperation and mutual exchanges. With the help of our friends and the allies like the US, I’m confident that we can stop this before it grows and affects other part of the country, the region and the whole world,” he added.

Lorenzana also expressed gratitude to the United States government for supporting the country's effort against terrorism.

“I would like to thank the US government for holding this said bilateral interagency drill in the Philippines, the Tempest Wind 2017, because this is held every three years from one country to another. We are fortunate that it came here this year,” he said.

“Let me thank them as well for their unceasing support to the Philippine counter-terrorism efforts for the past decades starting in 2001 and for their assistance to us in the on-going operations in Marawi,” he added. Robina Asido/DMS