Members of the Philippine and US Armed Forces participate in a live fire exercise of  Javelin missiles as part of Balikatan 2023 in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija on April 13, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA -- The annual bilateral exercise between the Philippines and the United States will involve a “full scale battle simulation” next year, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said on Friday.

Teodoro noted, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is looking forward to next year’s Balikatan exercise.

“He looks forward to next year's exercise, which will be, I believe, a full battle simulation, which will put to the test the combined capabilities in the most realistic of scenarios possible with safety in mind,” the defense chief said during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Balikatan exercise at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

“Next year and the continuation of this year will be a busy one for all of us, and we look forward to this because exercises such as this, at least on the Philippine side, we go out of our normal comfort zone and try to focus on actual soldiering which is what an armed forces needs to be,” he added.

Teodoro said Marcos is waiting for an “extensive debrief” on the recently-concluded drills.

“The president no less is waiting for an extensive debrief of our successes but moreso of our gaps and what we need to fill in capabilities, in interoperability, in human resources capabilities, and in sustainment, which [are] extremely important for the continuation of bilateral and multilateral cooperation going forward,” Teodoro said. 

This year’s Balikatan officially closed on Friday.  The joint military exercises opened on April 22.

With over 16,770 participants, this edition of the exercise is said the largest since the first staging in 1991.

Among the major events in this year’s Balikatan were the multilateral maritime exercise (MME), HIMARS rapid infiltration exercise, counter landing live fire exercise, and maritime strike.

The Balikatan culminated with the sinking of the decommissioned BRP Lake Caliraya, off the coast of Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.

Various naval, aerial and ground assets of the Philippines and the United States were utilized to target the mock enemy vessel. 

AFP chief of staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. said preparations for next year’s Balikatan will take place right after the closing ceremony. 

“I believe that next year's exercise would be more complex… and I was told that starting this afternoon, they will already start the planning process for next year's Balikatan exercise,” he said.