Manila, July 26 -- The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), along with its American and Japanese counterparts, completed another round of joint maritime exercises in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), amid renewed tensions between Manila and Beijing over an incident near Ayungin Shoal.

The AFP said the 17th Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA) was conducted July 21 to 25 with the United States Pacific Command and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Participating Philippine assets included the BRP Antonio Luna (FFG-15), a Philippine Navy AW109 helicopter, Philippine Air Force FA-50 fighter aircraft, TC-90 aircraft, A-29B Super Tucano, C-208B aircraft, and a Sokol search-and-rescue helicopter, according to a news release ov...