More than 3,000 US, PHL troops to hold amphibious landing exercise in October

Over 3,000 United States and Filipino troops will take part in a joint military training exercise in several parts of the country in October, a military spokesman said yesterday. Philippine Marine Corps spokesperson First Lt. Cheryl Tindog said that the annual RP-US Amphibious Landing Exercise, or Phiblex, will formally open this year on Oct. 8 in Subic Bay aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard. The exercise will end on Oct. 18, also aboard the US warship. In between, the exercise will take place in Marine Base Ternate in Cavite; Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija; and Crow Valley in Tarlac. Last year’s Phiblex exercise included boat-raid training in the West Philippine Sea. However, Tindog says, there are no at-sea activities scheduled this year. “The focus of [this year's] training objective is on humanitarian assistance and disaster response.” The exercise's humanitarian and civic action program component will be held in Palawan and Zambales. It will include medical and dental missions and the construction of classrooms. At least 1,200 Filipino troops will be involved in this year’s Phiblex. The Americans will field about 2,500 troops, some of whom have already arrived in the country and started engineering works in Palawan and Zambales with their Filipino counterparts, said Tindog. “The objective of Phiblex is to…improve our military relationship and improve capability in responding to disasters,” she said. — BM, GMA News