The US military has cancelled a large-scale exercise involving thousands of troops in the Philippines because of the coronavirus pandemic. The decision to scrap Balikatan 2020 was taken “in light of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding COVID-19 pandemic and in the best interest of the health and safety of both countries’ forces”, US Indo-Pacific Command chief Admiral Phil Davidson said. “We are in an extraordinary time and it’s clear we would have put many people at risk had we pursued Balikatan,” said Rear Admiral Adelius Bordado, the Philippines’ exercise director.
