Troops conduct maritime drills in Manila Bay

CNN Philippines

Troops conduct maritime exercises in Manila Bay. But the Coast Guard clarifies, this has nothing to do with fresh tensions in the West Philippine Sea.  Paige Javier has the scenes.  Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

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00:00 Coast Guard and Navy assets surrounded a vessel supposedly carrying smuggled goods and illegal drugs.

00:06 Authorities responded to an intelligence report aiming to neutralize those on board the ship.

00:12 After the crew surrendered to authorities, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Customs personnel went on board to investigate.

00:20 All these are part of the inter-agency Alalayan exercise by the National Coast Watch Center.

00:26 It aims to test protocols and the interoperability of agencies to respond to maritime incidents.

00:33 A now familiar weapon, the exercise also featured the use of a water cannon, which the Coast Guard says should only be used for specific situations.

00:43 We only use water cannons for fire.

00:46 We can also use it for a boat, but we haven't encountered such a situation.

00:53 Maybe in some instances, for example, there are problems in the sea, but if there are no problems, why would we use water cannons?

01:06 The Philippine Coast Guard says this is the first time interoperability exercises were held.

01:12 It clarifies the timing of the military exercise has nothing to do with the recent water cannon incident in Ayung and Shoal.

01:19 Well, actually this exercise was conceptualized several months ago.

01:24 The incident in WPS is not yet known.

01:30 But it's always good to be prepared for any eventualities.

01:34 The European Union, or EU, is working with the country on maritime capacity building and training.

01:40 The Coast Guard says the EU donation of a maritime coordination and information sharing platform will be a big help.

01:47 We share information and intelligence.

01:50 Before, most of our agencies would keep it to themselves.

01:55 Now, it's always good to share it to our partner agencies.

02:01 I've spoken with some of the officials here who said that the platform does fill a gap that was existing beforehand in order for these agencies to cooperate.

02:12 So, yeah, I'm quite impressed with what I've seen today.

02:16 The Coast Guard says it will review the interagency exercise for possible improvements.

02:22 It aims to hold another Alalayan exercise in November.

02:26 Paige Javier, CNN Philippines.

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