ABOARD THE MIGUEL MALVAR, off Philippines (Kyodo) -- The Philippines and Japan conducted a joint maritime exercise Saturday in an area of the South China Sea that the Southeast Asian country insists it has jurisdiction over, amid China's intensifying claims in the waters.

The Miguel Malvar, a guided missile frigate from the Philippine Navy and the Takanami, a destroyer from Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, took part in the exercise, which was held west of the town of Masinloc on the Philippines' main island of Luzon.

The exercise, called the Maritime Cooperative Activity, is aimed at strengthening international cooperation to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific, the Philippine military has said.

Kyodo News and some other select members of the media from the Philippines and Japan were onboard the frigate and watched the ships conduct, among other things, an anti-submarine warfare drill that the two countries did not conduct during their first such exercise last August.

The Philippines has reported repeated incursions by Chinese vessels in its exclusive economic zone, some sailing to within some 50 nautical miles of Luzon's shore earlier this year. China rejects a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that invalidated the country's claims over almost the entire South China Sea.

Japan and the Philippines signed a Reciprocal Access Agreement to facilitate joint exercises and disaster relief operations last July, and aside from holding bilateral drills the two countries have also taken part in multilateral exercises involving the United States and Australia, among others.