Soldiers look on as High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) batteries arrive for an airfield seizure exercise as part of the US-Philippines Balikatan joint military exercise at San Vicente Airport in Palawan on May 1, 2024. Jam Sta. Rosa, AFP 

RIZAL, Palawan — Twelve rockets from the United States’ High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) were fired from the shores of Kampong Ulay village on Thursday as Philippine and American troops continued the Balikatan military exercises on the western seaboard of Palawan,  facing the West Philippine Sea.

Two HIMARS units launched 12 rockets past 1 p.m. before joint forces of the Philippine and US Marines spent over half an hour firing rifles, automatic grenade launchers and cannons at floating targets about 8,500 meters from the beach.

“We are simulating a threat coming to our shorelines and so we are using our multi-domain capabilities to defend our sovereignty,” said Brig. Gen. Romulo Quemado II, deputy commander for external defense operations of the Western Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“We will be firing the HIMARS and also yun 105-mm canon natin, yung Howitzer and some other mixed fire and smaller munitions,” he told reporters here.

The HIMARS, a mobile multi-rocket weapon system developed in the US, was first used in the Balikatan exercises in 2016.

Its firing range can reach up to 300 kilometers or 160 nautical miles, depending on the rocket loaded unto the weapon system.

It was brought to the Philippines through several modes of transportation before two Landing Craft Air Cushion from the US delivered the weapons to the shores of Barangay Kampong Ulay.

“The fact that we showed that mobility across the frontage of the Philippines I think is really impressive,” said US Marines Corps Col. Shawn Dynan, the Commander of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

“You see each of these systems working together and it’s also our procedural interoperability how we employ these systems… it’s really a great demonstration of that interoperability and that partnership that really defines Balikatan,” added Brig. Gen. Bernard Harrington, 1st Multi-Domain Task Force Commander of the US Army.

For the Balikatan drills, the troops used Guided Multiple Launch Rockets (GMLR) that have minimum firing range of around 80 kilometers, Quemado said.

“It will simulate firing across for maritime defense,” he said.

When asked if the drill was designed to defend the Philippines against Chinese troops that have been illegally sailing in the Southeast Asian country’s exclusive economic zone, Quemado said: “That is very speculative.”

“This is quite a distance and we are only firing within our maritime zones and our territory,” he said.

So far, the Philippines has yet to place an order for HIMARS units, but the weapon system has been included in the AFP’s “wishlist” for several years.

Equipping Philippine troops with the HIMARS will be “very beneficial” for the country’s defense, Quemado said.

“We train ahead of the equipment. We start to build the competencies and the culture to maintain it,” he said.

“This is very important for all of us,” he added.

Meantime, the municipal government of Rizal conducted evacuation drills for some 100 households living near the coast of Barangay Kampong Ulay where the drills were held.

Government vehicles were deployed to fetch residents from their homes and transport them to the municipal gym where they spent the day while the drills were being held near their homes.

“Isa din po yun sa layunin ng ating pamahalaang bayan na maging ready sila at maintindihan nila yung mga sitwasyon na ito… na hindi sila magpapanic,” said Roxanne Escabal, an official representative from the Office of the Mayor.

“At least magiging ready sila at prepared sila sa kahit ano man, hindi lang ito pero kahit anong calamity ang dadating even if it’s man-made or natural,” she said.

(The local government wants them to be ready and to understand this situation so that they will not panic. At least they will be ready and prepared for any eventuality, not just for Balikatan but for any future calamity may it be man-made or natural.)

Philippine and American troops also repeatedly swept the exercise area to ensure that no civilian would be harmed during the drills.

The Philippine Marines who were involved in this drill performed “exceedingly well,” said BGen. Antonio Mangroban of the Philippine Navy Marines.

“They have shown that they are at par with our foreign counterparts in doing what is necessary to be done,” he said.

The 39th Balikatan exercises are being held as tensions between Manila and Beijing continue to rise as Asia’s largest economy continues to insist that it owns nearly the entire South China Sea, despite a 2016 international arbitral ruling that invalidated its claim based on the so-called 9-dash line map.

This year’s Balikatan started weeks after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s trilateral summit with the United States and Japan in Washington, where he and his American and Japanese counterparts strengthened their commitment to keep the Indo-Pacific open and free.

This year’s military drills between the traditional allies are expected to wrap up on May 10.