Western Command Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos | The Source - video Dailymotion

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The Philippines and the United States hold their second maritime cooperative activity with Chinese vessels shadowing their ships in the West Philippine Sea  China condemns the joint patrols, calling them "muscle flexing" the disputed waters.  Pinky Webb speaks with Western Command Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos.  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

Transcript

00:00 Welcome to The Source, where we combine the headlines with in-depth conversations with

00:07 the newsmakers themselves.

00:09 I'm Pinky Webb.

00:10 Today on the program, the Philippines and the United States hold their second maritime

00:15 cooperative activity with Chinese vessels shadowing their ships in the West Philippine

00:20 Sea.

00:21 China condemns the joint patrols calling them "muscle flexing" in the disputed waters.

00:27 AFP Western Command Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos tells us more in the program.

00:34 And about 17,000 grade 11 students could face displacement as an education agency reiterates

00:41 its order to face out senior high school programs in state and local universities and colleges.

00:47 Education Department Assistant Secretary Francis Cesar Brinas joins us later in the program.

00:54 The Philippines and the United States completed their second maritime cooperative activity

01:07 or MCA on Thursday to further develop the skills of naval troops and enhance the interoperability

01:14 of both forces.

01:15 But on the first day of the two-day event, China disrupted the joint drills in the West

01:20 Philippine Sea after two of its Navy vessels tailed the participants.

01:24 The Chinese Foreign Ministry defended the actions of its troops.

01:28 Beijing also accused the Philippines and the U.S. of muscle flexing and conducting provocative

01:34 moves.

01:35 Let's go straight to the source of the story.

01:37 We have AFP West Com Chief Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos.

01:41 Vice Admiral, he is currently aboard the BRP Gregorio del Pilar.

01:47 Sir, good morning to you.

01:49 How are you?

01:50 Good morning, Pinky.

01:51 Thank you very much for inviting me to your program.

01:56 Yes, sir.

01:57 How is everyone?

01:58 How are you?

01:59 We're okay.

02:00 We have a very good exercise, the MCA with the United States, and everybody's happy that

02:09 we've completed it safely, successfully, no untoward incident.

02:15 Everybody's happy.

02:16 Right.

02:17 So, this is the second maritime patrol between the Philippines and the U.S. under what is

02:21 called the Joint Maritime Cooperative Activity, or MCA.

02:25 Please tell us more about what transpired during the two-day activities.

02:30 Well, first of all, the MCA, I heard earlier, we're being accused of muscle flexing.

02:39 Well, this is not a muscle flexing activity.

02:42 The MCA is a routine goodwill activities approved under our mutual defense board and security

02:51 engagement board under our mutual defense treaty with the United States.

02:57 So this is just a routine goodwill activities that we did.

03:01 And for the last two days, we did some joint drills with the United States to enhance our

03:08 interoperability, to enhance our combined readiness to address whatever situation or

03:15 issues we will face on the ground.

03:18 It's a routine goodwill activity that actually allows to focus on interoperability, obviously

03:28 at sea, air and sea at that.

03:31 I wanted to find out from you, is this the first time, because during the second day,

03:36 which was yesterday, I believe that two Philippine helicopters landed on these USS Carl Vinson.

03:44 They said that this is a rare occurrence.

03:49 Was this the first time this happened?

03:51 Well, we have landed before on different types of US Navy ships when we do our exercises

04:00 before, Bali Kataan, Karat, and the Greenpak when we went to Hawaii.

04:07 But this is the – I confirm that this is the first time that our Navy helicopters operated

04:15 together with our US counterparts, and we were given the clearance to land on board

04:21 the Carl Vinson.

04:24 This is a very rare opportunity for us where the pilots and all the aviators were very

04:29 excited to be given this opportunity.

04:32 And what was that like for the pilots, if you could share with us?

04:36 Well, we landed on the aircraft carrier and a lot of fighter aircrafts on board, and they

04:45 were doing their flight operations, fixed-wing flight operations, and they were able to accommodate

04:52 us, integrate us in their operations to show that we can interoperate together.

04:59 And complex operations on board, very precise.

05:06 Aircrafts landing and taking off in a couple of seconds, in seconds long.

05:13 So it was really a very exciting time for our pilots, for our aviators to be able to

05:20 join that activity on board the US carrier.

05:23 I'm sorry, but it's like a movie.

05:26 You're just watching a movie.

05:29 Well, there were a lot of Tom Cruise in the carrier.

05:35 Real-life Tom Cruise and real-life Mavericks.

05:39 We're very happy to meet them there.

05:42 But because you said it's a rare opportunity, it means that this doesn't always happen,

05:49 how did we perform?

05:52 How did our pilots perform?

05:53 Well, they performed exceptionally well.

05:57 We followed all the procedures.

05:59 We trained very well for this.

06:01 We look at their protocols.

06:03 Our pilots followed them, and they were able to safely land on the aircraft carrier.

06:11 And it also shows that our progress in our defense capability development.

06:17 Because before, we didn't have a helicopter like this to be able to operate jointly in

06:25 air operations of the US Navy.

06:27 So the MCAA was really an excellent opportunity for us to demonstrate that we really have

06:34 the capability.

06:35 We have already acquired some modern assets, and we're ready to operate with the United

06:43 States, our treaty partner, even at the lower level.

06:49 We do not have yet the fighter to be able to operate with them.

06:53 These are our naval helicopters, small navy helicopters that we have.

07:00 But let's go back to the first day of the exercise.

07:03 Of course, members of the media were with the Philippine authorities as well.

07:10 Chinese warships were seen in the area during formation on the first day of the exercise.

07:18 I understand there were radio challenges made, if I'm not mistaken, sir, about five times

07:24 by the Philippines that actually fell on deaf ears.

07:27 Why do you think China was silent and did not respond to this?

07:32 Well, I confirmed that they did show up in the formation, but they did not disrupt the

07:43 operations.

07:44 According to our security, according to our protocols, we have to challenge their presence

07:50 here.

07:51 And they're operating within their jurisdictional authority, which we consider to be false,

08:02 something that's not correct.

08:04 So we told them that they are operating within our exclusive economic zone, and we're doing

08:09 the MCA within the exclusive economic zone, and only the Philippines has a jurisdiction

08:16 over this area.

08:17 So it is our prayer that China will respect our right to do this exercise with our treaty

08:25 partner.

08:26 But the radio challenges were not responded to.

08:30 Well, they responded one time, once, and they said that they are operating within their

08:38 jurisdictional authority.

08:40 And so we reminded them that under international law, under the UNCLOS, this is the EEC of

08:47 the exclusive economic zone in the Philippines, and they have no jurisdictional authority

08:52 over this area.

08:54 And only the Philippines has jurisdiction over the area where we are doing the MCA.

09:01 And how far were they from the first day formation, sir?

09:06 Well, they kept their distance.

09:09 They were a lot farther than when we usually see them during the RORE and the UNION.

09:15 They were very, very close.

09:18 This time, they kept their distance, about three to four miles.

09:23 So, medyo malayo naman.

09:26 If you compare that to the distance we see during RORE missions.

09:33 In fact, that's actually where I wanted to go now.

09:35 But this is, of course, very different, Vice Admiral, dahil ito po, ang pinag-uusapan na

09:39 po natin dito ay Navy ships, hindi ho ba, at PLA.

09:43 Ibang usapan po ito.

09:44 So, was there even, I guess, that concern that there could be a possible shadowing?

09:52 Well, I guess you can call that shadowing.

09:55 Pero, aabot ko kaya?

09:59 Was there a concern that aabot po sa dangerous maneuvers?

10:03 Well, we're ready for that in case they elevate their actions from shadowing to dangerous

10:11 maneuvers.

10:12 We prepared for that.

10:13 We have our rules of engagement already.

10:15 All the participating ships, they know already what to do in case they escalate into dangerous

10:23 maneuvers.

10:24 But, like I said kanina, we're very happy, they're successful and safe, and on.

10:33 Yes, we're with you there, Vice Admiral.

10:37 We are losing signal, our communication with the Vice Admiral because he is aboard the

10:47 BRP Gregorio del Pilar together with, still, I believe some members of the media.

10:53 Vice Admiral, are you there?

10:54 Are you back?

10:55 May gumamit ho ata ng anon.

10:56 Yes, I'm here.

10:57 May gumamit ho ata ng anon.

10:58 Yes, I'm here.

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13:40 Tugger, how do you take a statement like this when it's called an irresponsible action

13:47 when what the Philippines and the US had done, and I will reiterate what you said, is a routine

13:53 goodwill activity, we are allies with the United States for interoperability.

14:00 So what is it when the foreign ministry spokesperson of China calls this an irresponsible action?

14:09 Well, again, our MCA, to add further, is based on international law.

14:17 We're following international law, UNCLOS, the norms at sea.

14:23 So I don't know if you can classify that as irresponsible if you're following international

14:30 law and the law of the sea.

14:33 So I don't know where the spokesman bases a statement that it's an irresponsible activity

14:45 that we're doing.

14:46 Can we expect a third round of MCA between the Philippines and the US this year, or was

14:53 it really just two rounds, sir?

14:57 Well, we are expecting to do more.

15:00 We expect to do more MCAs or joint patrols or joint exercise with like-minded nations

15:08 who share our resolve and our desire to establish a rules-based international order.

15:14 Marami nang nagparating that they are interested in doing similar exercises, not just the US.

15:22 And so we are ready for that, and we expect more activities like this in the future.

15:30 Is there a set date already, sir?

15:33 Wala pa.

15:35 Wala pa.

15:36 We're lining them up, planning pa rin, but we expect more MCA in the future.

15:43 Maraming salamat po and congratulations to our men, sir.

15:46 Maraming salamat again.

15:47 Thank you.

15:48 Thank you very much, Tinky.

15:49 Happy New Year.

15:50 Thank you, sir.

15:51 And take care on your way home.

15:55 WESCOM Chief Vice Admiral Alberto Carla.

15:58 Stay safe, sir.

15:59 And up ahead, we speak to Education Assistant Secretary Francis Cesar Brinas on the move

16:04 of the Commission on Higher Education to pull the plug on senior high school programs in

16:09 state and local universities and colleges.

16:12 [MUSIC]

16:15 (dramatic music)

Western Command Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos | The Source

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