The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the US Armed Forces are laughable in their plan for a maritime strike or war games involving the sinking of the old BRP Miguel Malvar (PS-19) on the morning of May 5. Several hours before supposedly being blown up, the ship sank on its own at 30 nautical miles west of San Antonio, Zambales.

The sinking of the ship is part of Balikatan 40-25. This is the third ship to be sunk in war games in recent years.

For the planned sinking of the BRP Malvar, the AFP was supposed to use an FA-50PH fighter jet and A-29B “Super Tucano” attack aircraft and a fast-attack interdictor craft, which would fire Spike Non-Line of Sight missiles. It was also supposed to use the guided missile frigate BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), which has the LIG NEX 1 C-Star sea-skimming surface-to-surface cruise missile system. The US was also supposed to launch rockets using their bomber planes, F-16 and F-18 fighter jets. These weapons would leave chemicals and debris destructive to marine resources.

As an alternative, the US and the Philippines will reportedly just conduct a simulated marine strike and will no longer actually fire anti-ship missiles.

At the start of Balikatan 40-25 on April 21, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) condemned the Marcos regime for its subservience to US imperialism. According to the group, Filipinos have nothing to gain from Balikatan; it is expensive to hold, disrupts the population, threatens national security, and tramples on Philippine sovereignty.

Balikatan 40-25 will last until May 9. No less than 17,000 American and Filipino troops are participating in the war games, along with hundreds of Japanese and Australian soldiers. At the Marcos regime’s invitation, representatives and military officials from 16 other countries are serving as observers in the war games.

To make way for the war games, the local government has repeatedly implemented a “no-sail zone.” This includes twice banning fisherfolk from going out to sea in Zambales on April 25-27 and May 5-6, and in Cagayan on May 3-4.