MANILA: Joint US and Philippine military exercises this week will build on the lessons of the Marawi siege and increase counterterrorism capabilities, officials said.

US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Y. Kim and Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana on Monday inaugurated the 2018 US-Philippine Balikatan exercises at Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, which run from May 7 to May 18.

About 8,000 combined US and Philippine troops will take part in Balikatan 2018, along with a small contingent from the Australian and Japanese armed forces. The participation of the Australian and Japanese troops is under the banner of the US alliance system.

Balikatan (“shoulder-to-shoulder”) is an annual US-Philippine military bilateral exercise focusing on missions including humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, counterterrorism and mutual defense operations to improve response effectiveness.

“This year’s Balikatan will not only focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, which are of course very important here in the Philippines, but will also incorporate training identified in the post-Marawi action reports such as military operations in urban terrain,” Kim said.

He said that the combined military exercise will enable the two militaries to “deliver a more effective response when operating together” whether in a “natural disaster” or “man-made crisis.”

Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Salamat, the Balikatan Philippine exercise director, said: “We want the two forces to learn from our great and hard-earned experience in our past battles such as Marawi and I think this is one of the highlights of this year’s activity.”

Fighting in Marawi started on May 23, 2017, when Daesh-inspired members of the Maute Group and other local militant groups seized the Philippines’ only Muslim city. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared the city liberated from terrorists a day after Abu Sayyaf leader and Daesh-designated emir Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute were killed in a military assault.

“So we just want to help each other to be able to effectively combat future scenarios ... hopefully we can effectively employ necessary tactics (and) procedures needed to enhance our response actions in countering terrorism and of course, our action and response during crisis and calamities, either natural or manmade,” Salamat said.

He said that mock-up facilities had been set up to have training activities in scenarios with military operations in urban terrain.

Lt. Gen. James Lawrence Nicholson, commanding general, III Marine Expeditionary Forces, and Balikatan exercise director for the US side, said that the Philippine troops had learned much from the Marawi experience and this was a chance to share some of the successful tactics.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that this year’s Balikatan will focus on inter-operability training to address traditional and non-traditional security concerns.

“Through this exercise, we hope to improve our counter-terrorism capabilities in order to build safer communities and work toward the eradication of global terror networks,” the secretary said.

“We hope that through this activity we will have a stronger teamwork while we endeavor to (carry out) our common vision of developing long-term cooperation and effective interoperability between the Philippines and the United States and our allies,” he said.

Other activities during the Balikatan operation include a joint live fire exercise and an amphibious raid.

Prior to the official opening of Balikatan 2018, Philippine and US forces had begun community engagement activities on April 19, working together to renovate five schools in Luzon and conduct community medical engagements by training local residents in basic medical skills.

Some of the Philippine Armed Forces’ naval assets that will participate in BK 2018 are BRP Ramon Alcaraz and BRP Davao Del Sur. Also joining are attack and utility aircrafts including SF260, MG520, FA50, Sokol Choppers, and C130. Armored Personnel Carriers such as the Army’s M113 and ARV will also be used in the exercises.

The US armed forces will use air, marine, army and naval assets for BK 2018. Among these assets are the C-130H Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III, MV-22B Ospreys and the USNS Sacagawea.