The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), together with the armed and defense forces of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and United States, conducted a one-day Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA) on Saturday, within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

This was conducted within the vicinity of the West Philippine Sea under the area of operations of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom), introduced enhanced exercises designed to improve interoperability among participating forces.

New Zealand joined the activity for the first time, adding a new dimension to the collaborative efforts.

Activities included pre-sail briefings, communication exercises, cross-deck exercises, division tactics/officer of the watch drills, photographic exercises , replenishment at sea approaches, maritime domain awareness exercises, and contact reporting, all designed to refine operational readiness and collaborative capabilities.

This activity involved a range of naval and aerial assets, including the Philippine Navy’s BRP Antonio Luna, BRP Emilio Jacinto, one AW109 helicopter, and Philippine Air Force Search and Rescue (SAR) assets, alongside the United States’ USS Howard and two helicopters, Australia’s HMAS Sydney , a P-8 Poseidon aircraft, and one helicopter, Japan’s JS Sazanami , and New Zealand’s HMNZS Aotearoa.

AFP Chief of Staff General Romeo S Brawner Jr said: “This underscores our shared commitments to upholding the right to freedom of navigation and overflight, other lawful uses of the sea and international airspace, as well as respect for maritime rights under international law, as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).” AFP Public Affairs Office