Legazpi City - Preparations are in place for the holding of an RP-US Balikatan exercise next year in Bicol, a top military official said recently. From Mindanao, a war-torn region of Southern Philippines, the RP-US Balikatan exercises will be moving to the Bicol Peninsula early next year, the military official of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who requested not to be named said. He said the exercise will be held in Bicol by February next year, following an advance survey of the RP-US Balikatan working group that had visited the provinces of Albay and Sorsogon including the island province of Masbate over the weekend here to take a look at the Bicol terrain and territory. Bicol is an ideal site for the exercise because of its areas in terms of land, sea and air. Military reports said Bicol is one of the hotbeds of insurgency for the past three decades. The provinces of Albay and Sorsogon are considered hot spots as far as the insurgency problem is concerned. Undersecretary Edilberto Adan of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), in-charge of the RP-US military exercise, in his visit here last year said there was a strong possibility for a joint RP-US Balikatan to be held in Bicol because the area is very suitable for a joint military exercise. He said the joint military exercise would be beneficial to the country specifically the AFP, who would learn new techniques in warfare including the latest weapons while the US soldiers would learn more from us new jungle warfare maneuvers with the terrain the region has. The site inspection was confirmed by Army Col. Ariel Bernardo, commanding officer of the Army's 901st Infantry Brigade based in Daraga, Albay. Bernardo's brigade covers the territories of Albay, Sorsogon and the two island provinces of Catanduanes and Masbate. Bernardo said the advance party conducted initial location survey visits last October 8-12 for probable sites of the joint military exercises. Bernardo, said the exercise would include among others humanitarian missions such as construction of school building, water system facilities and farm to market road with medical and dental mission components. For instance, the US troops will also conduct a humanitarian mission in the municipality of Cabusao in Camarines Sur. In 2006, the US Navy Seabees partnered with the Armed Forces of the Philippines in aiding the typhoon-stricken communities in Bicol region especially typhoon-ravaged Albay after super typhoon Reming battered the region November that year, killing more than 1,000 people rendering 30,000 families homeless. The usual joint RP-US military exercises would last for six months under the Balikatan's Terms of Reference (TOR). US contingents are assigned to brigade-level units and allowed battalion-level operations as observers, trainors and advisers although they are prohibited from operating on their own.
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