Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo (Source: philstar.com)

Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo said that the annual “Balikatan” (shoulder-to-shoulder) will set in May.

An advance contingent from the US will arrive in the Philippines in April to prepare equipment, supplies and medical requirements, Arevalo said.

According to him, the drill will take place within the 180-day period allowed before the VFA abrogation formally takes effect.

The Philippines and the US signed the VFA in 1998, allowing joint Philippine-US military operations. The Philippine Senate ratified the agreement in 1999, seven years after the closure of the last US base on the Philippine territory.

On February 11, 2020, the Southeast Asian nation officially notified the US about the termination of the agreement.

According to the agreement, the termination will officially take effect after 180 days – the time needed for relevant negotiations of the two sides./.VNA

Vietnam, Cambodia hold joint rescue drill

Hundreds of soldiers from the Royal Cambodian Army and the Vietnam People’s Army yesterday took part in a rescue drill in the Cambodian province of Svay Rieng that borders Vietnam’s southern Long An province.