MANILA – This year’s iteration of the "Balikatan"
joint military exercises between the
Philippines and the United States
was a “very successful” one with a number of firsts on several fronts,
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Andres Centino
said Friday.He said this year’s "Balikatan," which
lasted three weeks, was the first with new activities in multiple venues
-- even as the Philippines starts preparations for next year’s
exercises.
“We had a very successful Balikatan this year, nasabi
ko nga kanina a lot of firsts, maraming mga bagong activities that we
included sa halos na three weeks nating exercise. First time din na
nagkaroon tayo ng multiple venues, napakaraming lugar na kung saan tayo
nagconduct ng ating exercise and after this. Pagkatapos nito will be
another preparation -- it's a whole year preparation actually and right
after this makikita natin what needs to be improved or refined. We will
continue planning again for next year (We had a very successful Balikatan
this year with a lot of firsts. We had many new activities in the last
three weeks in multiple venues. After this will be another round of
preparations -- it’s a whole year preparation where we will see what
needs to be improved or refined),” Centino said in an interview shortly
after the exercise's closing ceremonies.