RP-US military exercise culminates in Batangas

Philippine and American soldiers on Sunday concluded a stretch of their ongoing war exercises in Batangas province, with over 100 youth attending a leadership seminar in a military camp there. In a statement, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) 111 youth, including those unable to go to school, attended the Youth Leadership Seminar in Camp JP Rason in Nasugbu town in Batangas, to culminate the RP-US Balance Piston Exercise 10-03. “The graduating YLS participants are coming from different communities in the province of Batangas. This activity is a joint project of civil authorities and the RP-US Balance Piston students. It aims to transform local youths, especially the out of school to be productive members of the community," the statement said. The Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement described the Balance Piston exercise as an army-to-army special operation exercise involving a contingent from US Special Operations Command Pacific and their counterparts from the Special Operation Command of the Philippine Army. This exercise usually includes marksmanship, helicopter medical evaluation, combat lifesaving techniques, cross training RP and US personnel on airborne operations, and medical civic operations, the commission said. Civic activities included the renovation of a school building, and a medical and dental mission. The exercise in Batangas is just one of the similar activities lasting for a month or more, and being held in various provinces in the country in the past several years. - Jerrie Abella/KBK, GMANews.TV