US and Philippines launch joint army drills with 5,000 soldiers

MANILA (Reuters) - Soldiers from the Philippine and the U.S. armies began three weeks of joint military exercises on Monday, with drills focused on territorial defence and commanding large-scale deployments of forces, the Philippine Army said. 

Around 5,000 soldiers from the Philippine Army and the U.S. Army Pacific will take part in warfighting and exchange of expertise in the first phase of this year's Exercise Salaknib. A second phase is scheduled for later this year.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to travel to Manila this week to meet Philippine leaders and forces, the Pentagon announced last week. 

The exercises will focus on enhancing combined operations between their army, large-scale manoeuvres, live-fire exercises and territorial defence, the Philippine Army said in a statement.

The Salaknib exercises began in 2016 and are annual engagements between the two treaty allies, part of the broader Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) training drills.

Security engagements between the two nations have soared under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has pivoted closer to the United States. 

Marcos has prioritised upholding the Philippines' sovereign rights in the South China Sea and has locked horns repeatedly with China over its actions in the disputed waterway, including the constant presence of Beijing's coast guard near disputed features in Manila's maritime zone.

Hegseth is the first Cabinet official to visit Manila since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January. 

Lloyd Austin, who was Defense Secretary under President Joe Biden, had said America's alliance with the Philippines would transcend changes in administrations.

The Philippines secured an exemption from the 90-day funding freeze that Trump ordered in January so it could receive $336 million for the modernisation of its security forces. 

(Reporting by Mikhail Flores; Editing by John Mair)