MANILA, Nov. 18 -- Philippine Navy (PN) ships engaged in anti-submarine warfare during the recent Maritime Multilateral Cooperative Activity (MMCA) with Japan and the United States in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), an official said Tuesday.

"There are different serials that we perform, the most common of [those] in the MMCA is that PN ships engage in anti-submarine warfare," PN spokesperson for WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said in a press briefing, responding to questions regarding the PN ships' role during the MMCA held on Nov. 14 and 15.

Specifically, the PN ships were tasked to detect and hunt down possible submarine contacts during the drill, Trinidad said, adding it is the role the PN usually adopts when joining internatio...