U.S. troops in Manila

U.S. troops in Manila

MANILA (AP): More than 300 U.S. troops arrived in Manila on Saturday to take part in the first large-scale joint military exercises under a new agreement that gave legal protection to American soldiers in the Philippines.

Maj. Ann Freed, a spokeswoman for the U.S. troops involved in the "Balikatan" or "shoulder to shoulder" exercise, said the soldiers include 130 from Company C of the Army's 2-1 Infantry Battalion, 35 engineers from the Company C of the 84th Engineering Battalion, both based in Alaska, and 165 Marines from the III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa.

She said the soldiers will be in "various locations" on the main island of Luzon until the exercises end March 3.

Freed said 3,500 U.S. soldiers will take part in the exercises, including 900 aboard ships at sea. Only about 1,000 will be on land at any given time, she added.