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Over 17,000 troops from seven countries, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), will be holding joint military drills across different parts of the country beginning late April 2026 for Balikatan 2026.
While Balikatan is primarily a bilateral joint exercise between treaty-allies the Philippines and the United States, previous iterations have included both ground and maritime troops from “partner” nations.
For 2026, Japan, Australia, Canada, France, and New Zealand will all be sending combat troops to the Philippines.
It will be the first time for Japan combat personnel, likely to be in the hundreds, to set foot on Philippine soil since Imperial Japan invaded the Philippine islands in World War II.
The Philippines has signed military agreements — either in the form of a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), a Status of the Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA), or a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with all six countries. Japan and Australia are also strategic partners of Manila.
“There’s a desire among participating partners to expand participation. They see the importance of stability in the region,” said Colonel Robert Burn, spokesperson for the US military in Balikatan 2026, in a press briefing on Tuesday, April 14.
Bigger, better?
In the past years, nearly all editions of Balikatan had been touted to be the “biggest yet” — even the 2022 edition, on the heels of a global pandemic and at the tail-end of a former Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, who wanted to practically cut defense ties with the US.
What makes a joint exercise “the biggest yet?”
It’s not just about the sheer number of troops being sent to Philippine shores or whether new, more powerful military assets are making their way to the country for the first time. A bigger military exercise means increasing in its complexity and expanding operations across domains — land, air, sea, space, and cyber.
All of the Philippines’ unified commands will be participating in Balikatan, although most of the events that are open to Philippine and visiting media are taking place in the Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) and the Western Command (WESCOM).
The two commands cover or are areas close to the Philippines where regional tensions could arise — Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) and the Taiwan Strait for NOLCOM and the West Philippine Sea for WESCOM. Activities set to take place in these commands — or at least those that are open for media coverage — are maritime or amphibious.
Military officials did not provide details on the Balikatan events that are set to take place in the Southern Luzon Command, Visayas Command, Eastern Mindanao Command, and the Western Mindanao Command, as of posting.
Not all Balikatan events, including cybersecurity or command and control drills typically hosted in Metro Manila, are open to the media.
Security in the region and beyond
Balikatan exercises, as a rule, are designed based on the needs of host the Philippines and the common interests of its partner the US. For years, Balikatan focused on anti-terror or counterinsurgency exercises.
Since Manila shifted focus to territorial defense, Balikatan has done the same. The 2026 iteration is no different.
NOLCOM is host to multinational maritime events, integrated air and missile defense, counterlanding live fire exercises, and a joint maritime strike activity. WESCOM in Palawan will also be where a counterlanding live-fire exercise will be open to the media.
Both the Philippines and the United States, as well as its partner militaries, will be quick to say that the drills are not directed towards a specific adversary or threat. But it’s hard to miss the China-shaped elephant in the room, especially when the military itself highlights activities in the northern and western seaboards of the country.
In the West Philippine Sea, Chinese maritime forces continue to harass Philippine vessels in defense of its territorial claims since deemed invalid by an international tribunal.
North of the Philippines, tensions in the Taiwan Strait continue to threaten the region. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself has said the Philippines would inevitably be dragged into a war over Taiwan, thanks primarily to its sheer proximity.
Marcos’ home province of Ilocos Norte, where at least two major drills will be hosted, is less than an hour’s flight away from Taiwan.
But unlike the most recent iterations of Balikatan, the 2026 edition will have another global issue casting its long shadow on the month-long exercise: the United States and Israel’s war on Iran and its far-reaching effects beyond the Middle East.
The Philippines, a country heavily dependent on oil from the Middle East, has been placed under a year-long state of national energy emergency as fuel prices continue to soar. The Marcos administration has imposed energy saving measures across the government, including the Philippine military.
“I would not deny that it affected us… in terms of supporting our requirements. But we already programmed this activity prior to the crisis. These resources are already well-planned and are already in place for the execution of this exercise. So, I think the effect is only minimal,” said Colonel Dennis Hernandez, spokesperson for the Philippine military in Balikatan.
Bunn said the US had purchased the fuel it will be using for Balikatan between 90 to 120 days ago, or well before the US launched strikes against Iran on February 28.
“The way supply and demand works, you can’t avoid the fact that there’s going to be some impact. But the United States, whether it be through energy use or when we put our vehicles on the roads during Balikatan, are always very sensitive to the local populace and our effect on the nation of the Philippines. We respect that to a high degree and it’s very important to our alliance,” he added.
Top officials from the different countries are expected to attend at least one of the activities under Balikatan. President Marcos typically attends the biggest of the events, which for this year will likely be the joint maritime strike.
Japan’s Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro is also expected to be in the Philippines for Balikatan, also to observe the maritime strikes. – Rappler.com
