US military ship to visit Iloilo
A US military ship will visit Iloilo this March on a civic mission. In a phone interview aired over Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo, where she was a guest in a public affairs segment Sunday morning, US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney said that the ship will be conducting community projects in Iloilo.
She, however, did not identify the ship. Kenney dwelt more on their experience while conducting humanitarian missions in Panay island in the wake of typhoon Frank.
The US military felt the warm welcome of the populace when they were delivering aid and relief goods, she said, recalling the experience of US servicemen who conducted relief operations in the flood-stricken provinces of Iloilo and Aklan in the wake of typhoon Frank June last year.
“We were overwhelmed by the compassion of the people responding to the call,” she stressed.
The US deployed USS Ronald Reagan, its newest aircraft carrier, and four battleships to Panay island in the central Philippines to deliver aid to those affected by Frank.
At the same time, the US is interested in conducting war exercises with the Philippine military in the Visayasn region in Central Philippines, where Maoist insurgency is the main threat, and not Muslim extremists.
Armed Forces of both US and the Philippines have not yet conducted Balikatan exercises in the Visayas since the ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement nor any other war exercises under the Mutual Defense Treaty.
In the past, Balikatan exercises were either held in Luzon or in Mindanao, but never in the Visayas.
This April, the Philippines will again host another round of Balikatan exercises in the Bicol region.