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Philippines, U.S. joint exercises kick off

Xinhua, October 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Philippines and the United States formally opened Thursday the Philippine Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) 16 in the Marine headquarters in Taguig City, Metro Manila.

The training exercises will be conducted in Ternate, Cavite, Crow Valley, Tarlac and in San Antonio, Zambales, all in northern part of the Philippines.

According to Philippine military, these exercises will seek to advance the Philippines and United States' military to military relationship and improve the interoperability capability of the Filipino troops together with their American counterparts.

"Another goal of this bilateral exercise is also to enhance the readiness of our troops when it comes to humanitarian assistance and disaster response especially during calamities," the Philippine military said.

"And with the formation of an amphibious marine brigade, this exercise will further enhance the capabilities of our troops in amphibious operations and develop the amphibious component of the national maneuver force," it added.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Naval inspector general, Maj. Gen. Alexander F. Balutan. The commander of the Philippine Marine Ready Force, Col. Nathaniel Y. Casem PN(M) together with the commanding general of the 3rd expeditionary brigade, Brig. Gen. Paul J. Kennedy was also in attendance. Endi