FLAG PROTOCOL US soldiers taking part in Balikatan 2023, their biggest joint drill yet with Philippine troops, fold the Philippine and American flags upon their arrival at Subic Bay on Sunday. INQUIRER file photo / LYN RILLON
ZAMBALES, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. gained a “deeper appreciation” of the significance of the annual war games between the United States and the Philippines following his visit, an official said on Wednesday.
Marcos visited Naval Station Leovigildo Gantioqui in San Antonio town to witness the joint live fire exercise and the first ever-drills to sink the target ship, a decommissioned Philippine Navy corvette identified as BRP Pangasinan.
“The president came away with a deeper appreciation for joint and combined operations,” Col Michael Logico, Balikatan 2023’s spokesperson, said in a chance interview here.
“His inquisitiveness for the exercise means he is deeply interested in how we operate together,” Logico added.
Some 1,400 Marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen and Coast Guardsmen from both countries took part in the Combined Joint Littoral Live Fire Exercise which involved detecting, identifying, targeting and engaging the said target ship using a variety of ground and air-based weapons systems.
This year’s Balikatan, which began from April 21 to 28, is the biggest Balikatan thus far, participated by 17,600 troops from the two countries.
“Balikatan” is a Filipino term that means ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ or “sharing the load together.”
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