logo
PH, US, Japan coast guards to join exercise in Kagoshima from June 16 to 20

PH, US, Japan coast guards to join exercise in Kagoshima from June 16 to 20

GMA Network03-06-2025

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on said Tuesday that BRP Teresa Magbanua will join the second trilateral maritime exercise with the United States and Japan off Kagoshima City waters from June 16 to 20.
In a statement, the PCG said a send-off ceremony for BRP Teresa Magbanua will be held at Pier 13, Port Area, Manila on Wednesday.
'The 97-meter Coast Guard vessel is expected to arrive at Kagoshima Port on 12 June 2025,' the PCG said.
'It will undergo a three-day maintenance and repair, followed by the reception ceremony for BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9071) and USCG cutter Stratton (WMSL-752) on 16 June 2025,' the PCG added.
The PCG, US Coast Guard (USCG), and Japan Coast Guard (JCG) will participate in facility tours, mutual visits to patrol vessels, maritime exercise meetings, and capacity-building exercises.
According to the PCG, the USCG and JCG helped in improving the skills and expertise of Filipino personnel through different human resource development programs.
The activity is expected to result in a stronger collaboration and deeper diplomatic relations between the three coast guards, according to the PCG.
Aside from this, the PCG is also looking forward to exploration of more avenues for maritime cooperation towards a rules-based order after the trilateral maritime exercise.
The PCG said these efforts are anchored on President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr.'s directive to engage in capacity-building initiatives that promote cooperation, understanding, and mutual trust among counterparts. — Joviland Rita/RSJ, GMA Integrated News

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

PH, US, Japan coast guards simulate crisis amid China threat
PH, US, Japan coast guards simulate crisis amid China threat

GMA Network

time2 days ago

  • GMA Network

PH, US, Japan coast guards simulate crisis amid China threat

JAPAN - Helicopters buzzed in the shadow of a smouldering volcano and boats rescued dummies from the sea this week in a show of maritime unity by Japan, the United States and the Philippines. The joint coast guard exercises held off Japan's southwest shore follow a warning from the three countries about Chinese activity in disputed regional waters. Tensions between China and other claimants to parts of the East and South China Seas have pushed Japan to deepen ties with the Philippines and the United States. This week marked the second time the countries' coast guards have held training drills together, and the first in Japan. They took place over five days off the coast of Kagoshima, where Sakurajima volcano dominates the skyline, quietly puffing out smoke and ash. Dozens of personnel took part, with Friday's final exercises featuring one vessel from each of the three countries' coast guards. They included the BRP Teresa Magbanua, which was provided to the Philippines by Japan through a loan agreement. The 2,265-ton vessel, named after a schoolteacher and revolutionary, usually monitors Chinese boats in the South China Sea. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, which Beijing claims almost entirely, despite an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis. Chinese and Japanese patrol vessels in the East China Sea also routinely face off around disputed islands. On Friday, Manila accused China of using a water cannon on two of its fisheries department boats as they attempted to resupply Philippine fishermen near the disputed Scarborough Shoal. The US Coast Guard was represented in the exercises by the cutter Stratton, which can carry up to 170 personnel, and Japan by the 6,000-ton Asanagi. Friday's drills began with a simulation of a person falling overboard. Once the dummy, wearing a bright red lifejacket, was in the water, a US drone was launched from the Stratton, circling high above as it scanned the area. A small Philippine rescue boat then emerged from the Teresa Magbanua, zipping across the water before coast guard personnel fished the dummy out of the water. Other rescue scenarios enacted included a Japanese helicopter racing from shore to pull a human subject from the sea. The helicopter's rotor blades whipped up the calm blue waters, where the occasional small hammerhead shark could be seen idly swimming alongside the Asanagi. The exercises concluded with a simulated collision and fire, with all three coast guards blasting the stricken vessel with their water cannons. Japan Coast Guard official Naofumi Tsumura said the joint exercises had "built mutual understanding and trust". "More than anything, we have strengthened coordination and cooperation between us," he said. In 2024, the three countries issued a joint statement that included strong language aimed at Beijing. "We express our serious concerns about the People's Republic of China's (PRC) dangerous and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea," it said, describing "dangerous and coercive use of Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels". They also expressed "strong opposition to any attempts by the PRC to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea". This week's joint exercises were the first since the statement was released. Tsumura said there were small details that could have worked better and vowed to improve in future collaborations. He said the three countries' coast guards had "come to understand each other better, or as the Japanese often say, to know each other by face". "I believe we are now able to conduct maritime rescue operations more effectively," he said. — Agence France-Presse

PH, Australian armies boost warfighting capabilities in inaugural training exercise
PH, Australian armies boost warfighting capabilities in inaugural training exercise

GMA Network

time3 days ago

  • GMA Network

PH, Australian armies boost warfighting capabilities in inaugural training exercise

Philippine Army and Australian Army troops conduct field training exercise at Camp Kibaritan in Bukidnon.????? Photo from 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office (4DPAO) In line with deepening defense ties and enhanced interoperability, the Philippine Army and the Australian Army are conducting their inaugural joint field training exercise in Mindanao, dubbed 'Kasangga 2025-1.' The bilateral drill is set to conclude on June 24, 2025, at Camp Kibaritan in Bukidnon. The exercise—named after the Filipino word 'Kasangga,' meaning 'ally' or 'partner'—marks the first-ever Philippine Army-Australian Army Exercise (PAAAE) conducted in the southern Philippine region. It brings together three platoons from the Philippine Army's 4th and 10th Infantry Divisions, as well as the Combat Engineer Regiment, alongside their Australian Army counterparts. "This inaugural Army-to-Army exercise in Mindanao marks a significant advancement in our bilateral defense cooperation and reaffirms our shared commitment as strategic partners to ensuring regional security in the Indo-Pacific," said Philippine Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Roy M. Galido. The training focuses on jungle and urban operations, breaching techniques, tactical combat casualty care, jungle survival skills, as well as mobility, counter-mobility, and reconnaissance operations. These exercises simulate real-world combat scenarios to sharpen the troops' operational readiness and deepen mutual understanding of each other's tactics, techniques, and procedures. The Philippine Army emphasized that Kasangga 2025-1 reinforces the growing defense relationship between the two countries, aligned with broader regional efforts to promote peace, stability, and a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific. —VAL, GMA Integrated News

Legacy worn proud: Filipina honors hero grandma at Harvard graduation
Legacy worn proud: Filipina honors hero grandma at Harvard graduation

GMA Network

time4 days ago

  • GMA Network

Legacy worn proud: Filipina honors hero grandma at Harvard graduation

'I walked that stage with tears in my eyes and a deep awareness that I was not walking alone,' Ylaysha Musngi Gosiaco wrote on her Facebook page. Courtesy: Ylaysha Musngi Gosiaco Harvard University is no stranger to applause. Every spring, thousands gather at Harvard Yard in the university's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts to witness graduation day—a celebration of scholastic achievement and the promise of potential for members of the graduating class. Last May, Harvard's onstage procession of black togas and caps had a special pause as one graduate embraced the moment to give honor not just to her Filipino identity, but her grandmother's courage and sacrifice during World War II. Ylaysha Musngi Gosiaco, who graduated cum laude with magna cum laude distinction in psychology, approached the stage thinking of things other than her diploma. In her hands was a framed black-and-white photo—not of herself, but of her grandmother, 1st Lt. Dr. Mercedes Cuello Lazaro Musngi, a World War II Filipina guerrilla combat medic. The gesture was quiet, but in that silence, her message of pride, gratitude, and love was loud and clear. Ylaysha stopped. She held up the portrait and her head. She wept. Then, in front of the deans, faculty, and thousands of spectators, she saluted. It was a moment to honor Ylaysha's lola, affectionately called Mommy Ched, whom her family cherishes as a war-time Filipino hero. The patriotism of others like Mommy Ched were honored, too. "I walked that stage with tears in my eyes and a deep awareness that I was not walking alone," she later wrote on her public Facebook page. "Behind me stood generations of love, sacrifice, and prayers—of unsung family and military heroes, seen and unseen," she said. Ylaysha wore a graduation sash inspired by the Philippine flag over her toga. It was a subtle but deliberate declaration of identity at a renowned institution that is proud of its multicultural environment. Over 9,000 students graduated from Harvard this year. Remembering lola In honoring her grandmother, Ylaysha also chose to highlight the stories of women in the resistance during World War II. According to Ylaysha, Mommy Ched treated wounded soldiers under extreme conditions. Some Filipinas who served as guerrillas, medics, or messengers during the war were never officially recognized. Several accounts of their courage have been passed on, not through history books, but with stories at the family dining table. Eighty years after the end of Japanese occupation in the Philippines, Ylaysha made sure that Mommy Ched's sacrifice would not be forgotten. On Philippine Independence Day, June 12, she posted a photograph of herself waving the Philippine flag in the Harvard campus. "For Mommy Ched. For our people," her caption read. Beyond Harvard Ahead of her graduation in Harvard, Ylaysha was involved in mental health advocacy. She founded The Mind Warriors Project: Kalasag, a nonprofit initiative that promotes trauma-informed mental health education and intergenerational healing. Her focus on clinical psychology is not academics alone—it is personal, rooted in a desire to help communities process pain inherited across generations. She has led workshops, collaborated with educators, and worked with both faith-based and grassroots organizations. Her work blends historical awareness with mental health strategies, recognizing that healing often begins with remembering. In her words, her Harvard degree is not just a credential. "It's a testament to what happens when history, faith, and community come together," she wrote. In a commencement season often bookmarked with celebratory social media posts, much of Ylaysha's messages online were about gratitude. She made no mention of internships, job offers, or academic honors. Instead, she wrote about the people who carried her through—her parents, pastors, friends, and ancestors, whose sacrifices she believes made her path possible. Her graduation cap bore the message: "The Lord is the Director of My Purpose-Filled Life." Lola's legacy For many, graduation is about reaching a finish line. Ylaysha, however, believes her graduation is a turning point. She walks forward with a Harvard degree, but also with a mission to remember, honor, and heal. Her moment on stage allowed for a statement about Filipino heritage, and a reminder that some stories may be forgotten without those who chose to remember. And that, perhaps, is the most meaningful kind of commencement: not just the beginning of a new chapter, but a reminder of one's legacy and their stories that the next generations can carry into the future. — VDV, GMA Integrated News

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store