The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) welcome the possible deployment of a second United States (US) Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile system in the country following reports about the deployment of another Typhon battery in the Pacific.

"This is a welcome development for the AFP as we can say that the more the marrier, the more assets that we have the more also that we are able to train more personnel on our part," Col. Francel Padilla, AFP spokesperson, told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Tuesday.

Col. Louie Dema-ala, Army spokesman, said deployment of additional MRC will boost the training of troops under the Army Artillery Regiment.

"The Philippine Army would welcome this because we will able to fast track the training of our personnel. Right now we only able to train small number of personnel. So we welcome this if additional (battery) will arrive," he said.

Anticipating possible opposition from China, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea noted that "the defense posture of the Republic of the Philippines is not design against any other country."

"It is an action of a sovereign state. In the region we have abiding by the rules based international order. We have been supportive of the rules based international order. We have been abiding by the international law, other countries specially Chinese Communist Party has not been abiding by international law they have been destructing the region," he said.

"If you notice in the sea, air land domains we have increased our bilateral and multilateral activities with other countries. The Navy we have the multilateral maritime activities, the Air Force they recently have engagement with foreign air forces so as with our ground forces the Philippine Army and again we welcome all of these activities," he added.

Amid China's demand for the immediate removal of MRC in the country, AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. previously expressed his interest of permanently keeping the MRC in the country.

Early this year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. challenges China to stop its "harassments, aggressive and coercive behavior" if they want the MRC to leave the country.

The first MRC missile system was brought to the country by the US Army in April 2024 as part of the Balikatan exercises that run from April 22 to May 10.

Dema-ala said the first MRC that was initially located in Laoag airfield and transferred to another location in Luzon remains in the country and will continue to be use during subject matter expert exchange (SMEE) of the ongoing Salaknib bilateral exercise between US - Philippine Army forces. Robina Asido/DMS