More than 17,000 Filipino and US soldiers on Tuesday began the largest joint military exercise in decades in the Philippines , amid criticism that it is escalating tensions in the region rather than promoting peace and stability.

According to the Philippine military, the annual 18-day exercise dubbed "Balikatan" involves 5,400 Philippine and 12,200 US soldiers, making it the largest Philippine-US joint military exercise in decades.

About 100 members of the Australian armed forces participate in the exercise, while ten countries, including Japan and Britain, participate as observers.

The "Balikatan 2023" exercise will be held in several regions, including northern Luzon Island, Palawan Province, Batanes Islands and Zambales Province from April 11 to 28.

The exercises will focus on maritime security, amphibious operations, live fire training, cyber defence, counterterrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness. The Philippines and the United States will deploy complex weapons systems, including a Patriot missile battery and High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems (HIMARS).

Hundreds of demonstrators, including members of the Philippine Students Association, held a "flash rally" at around 5 a.m. local time today (Tuesday), a few hours before the official launch of the Balikatan exercise in the Philippines. The students urged the Philippine government to cancel military agreements with the United States.

The demonstrators carried banners denouncing the exercises and urging Filipinos to oppose the joint exercises. Some activists threw "paint bombs" and defaced the seal of the US Embassy in Manila to denounce the joint military training.

Another protest was held at the gate of a military camp while the opening ceremony was taking place inside the headquarters.

Ana Malindog-Oy, vice president of the Manila-based Philippine Century Asian Institute for Strategic Studies, warned that organizing Balikatan would create instability and volatility in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region and the broader Asia-Pacific region, adding that Filipinos would be stuck. in the midst of mutual conflicts and will suffer the most.

Roland Sempulan, vice president of the Center for People Empowerment in Governance in the Philippines, urged his country to focus more on economic relations with all countries rather than continuing to spend on arms sales, which implies Balikatan and other joint military exercises between the Philippines and the United States.

Balikatan, which means "shoulder to shoulder" in the Filipino language, is the most extensive of several joint military exercises between the Philippines and the United States.

The Visiting Forces Agreement gives US forces a legal basis to be in the Southeast Asian country to conduct bilateral military exercises and governs the conduct of US armed forces personnel.