MANILA, Philippines — A World War II-era Philippine navy ship to be used as a target in a combat exercise by American and Philippine forces accidentally sank Monday hours before the mock assault, prompting the drill to be canceled, U.S. and Philippine military officials said.
The BRP Miguel Malvar, which was decommissioned by the Philippine navy in 2021, took on water while being towed in rough waters facing the disputed South China Sea and sank about 30 nautical miles off the western Philippine province of Zambales. Nobody was onboard when the ship listed and then sank, the Philippine military said.
American and Philippine forces proceeded with other live-fire maneuvers off Zambales on Monday despite the premature sinking of the Malvar. The ship was built as a patrol vessel for the U.S. Navy in the 1940s and was transferred to Vietnam’s navy before the Philippine military acquired it, Philippine navy Capt. John Percie Alcos said.
“It’s an 80-year-old dilapidated ship and it wasn’t able to withstand the rough seas,” Philippine Lt. Col. John Paul Salgado told The Associated Press.
The ship-sinking exercise was planned in an offshore area facing the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal, which has been closely guarded by the Chinese coast guard, navy and suspected militia ships.
The Philippines also claims the fishing atoll, which lies about 137 miles west of Zambales. Chinese and Philippine forces have had increasingly hostile confrontations in the waters and airspace of Scarborough in recent years.
The canceled ship-sinking drill would have been the third to be staged by the treaty allies in recent years. It was supposed to be one of the highlights of large-scale annual military exercises by the United States and the Philippines from April 21 to May 9 with about 14,000 U.S. and Filipino troops participating.
Called Balikatan, Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder, the combat drills have increasingly focused on the defense of Philippine sovereignty in the face of China’s growing aggression in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.
Mock battle scenes that have been staged so far, including the retaking of an island from hostile forces, have reflected assurances by the Trump administration, including by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, that the U.S. would abide by its treaty commitment to defend the Philippines in case Filipino forces come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
On Sunday, U.S., Australian and Philippine forces practiced retaking an island from hostile forces in the coastal town of Balabac in western Palawan province, which faces the South China Sea.
Japanese forces and British marines joined as observers of the combat exercise, which “showcased the growing interoperability and cohesion among partner nations in maintaining regional security,” Salgado said.
“What we have seen since Trump returned to the White House is a remarkable level of continuity in the U.S.-Philippines alliance not only in joint military drills, but also on American statements that the alliance is ‘ironclad,’” said Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at RAND Corporation.
“The Trump administration is trying to keep the pressure on China through its support to the Philippines,” Grossman said. But he added that it is unclear “just how sustainable this commitment will be given that the Trump administration seems less hawkish on China than its predecessors.”
China has vehemently opposed such exercises involving U.S. forces in or near the South China Sea or Taiwan, the island democracy, which Beijing claims as a province and has threatened to annex by force if necessary.
U.S. and Philippine military officials, however, have insisted that the combat exercises were not designed with China in mind but serve as a deterrence to acts of aggression in the region.
