MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Navy ship during World War II will be targeted by U.S. and Philippine forces as combat exercises, prompting the exercise to be cancelled hours on Monday before the simulated attack, U.S. and Philippine military officials said.

BRP Miguel Malvar, who was retired by the Philippine Navy in 2021, dragged water in the thick waters facing the controversial South China Sea and sat about 30 nautical miles beside Zambales, the western province of the Philippines. The Philippine military said no one was on the ship when it was listed and then sunk.

Despite Malvar's premature sinking, U.S. and Philippine forces conducted other live drills with Zambales on Monday. Philippine Navy Captain John Percie Alcos said the ship was built for the U.S. Navy patrol ship in the 1940s and was transferred to the Vietnamese Navy before the Philippine military acquisition.

"This is a 80-year-old ship that can't stand the rough ocean," Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Salgado told the Associated Press.

The ship link exercise is planned in an offshore area facing the controversial Scarborough Shoal, which is closely protected by the Chinese Coast Guard, Navy and alleged militia vessels.

The Philippines also claims that the fishing atoll is about 137 miles west of Zambales. In recent years, Chinese and Philippine forces have become increasingly hostile in Scarborough's waters and airspace.

In recent years, the cancelled ship drill will be the third time that the treaty allies have performed. From April 21 to September 9, one of the highlights of the large annual military exercises in the United States and the Philippines should be the highlights of the participation of about 14,000 U.S. and Philippine forces.

Fighting training is called Balikatan, to the foot to shoulder Tagalog, facing the growing aggression of China in the South China Sea, Beijing has claimed almost all that it is increasingly concerned about the defense of Philippine sovereignty.

The simulated battlefield that has been staged so far, including the withdrawal of an island from hostile forces, reflects the Trump administration’s assurances, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, that the United States will abide by its treaty commitment to defend the Philippines in case of attacks by Philippine forces, including armed attacks at the seas of China, including in the south.

U.S., Australian and Philippine forces practiced an island in hostile forces in the coastal town of Balabac, which faced the South China Sea coastal town of Palawan.

Salgado said the Japanese and British Marines joined observers in the combat exercises, "demonstrating the growing interoperability and cohesion between partner countries in maintaining regional security."

"What we've seen since Trump returned to the White House is a significant continuity of the US-Philippine Alliance, not only in joint military exercises, but also in statements that the US-Coalition is "Ironclad."

"The Trump administration is trying to withstand pressure on China through support for the Philippines," Grossman said, but he added that it is unclear "because the Trump administration is more sustainable to China's hawks than its predecessor."

China strongly opposes exercises involving democratic American troops in the South China Sea or islands near Taiwan, with Beijing claiming that the province is a province and threatening to annex by force if necessary.

However, U.S. and Philippine military officials insist that combat practices do not consider China, but a deterrent to the aggression in the region.