Members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and their counterparts from the United States military join the opening of the 39th iteration of Balikatan at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on April 22, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News MANILA -- The ongoing Balikatan Exercises between the Philippines, United States and other partner countries will involve not only military drills and exercises, but also humanitarian and civic activities to benefit local communities, the Balitakan Public Affairs Office said Friday.

Balikatan Public Affairs Officer US Marine Lt. Col. Brian T. Block said troops from the Philippines and the US will engage with the communities to assist in the delivery of social services and trainings.

"We have 5 different sites across the Philippines, 2 in the Northern Luzon, 2 in Central Luzon and one in Palawan where the Armed Forces of Philippines and the US service members are doing schools, community health centers, going out and doing cooperative medical engagements with the community," Block  said in a televised briefing. 

"It is really about making long-term investment in the relationship between the military and the local communities that we serve. It is great to go out there and interact not just with people in uniform but the normal everyday Filipinos. That is one of the highlights of Balikatan," he added.

Block's counterpart in the Philippines, LtCol John Paul Salgado added that the exercises would help communities in disaster preparedness.

"We are allowing our soldiers, both the US and the Philippines to be in the community. So aside from building schools, we are also training them for other responses for disaster, for first response, for first aid," Salgado said.

The 36th annual Balikatan Exercises commenced on Monday and will run until May 10.

Some 16,000 members of the AFP and US military have been training together and executing "a range of complex missions across domains, including maritime security, sensing and targeting, air and missile defense, dynamic missile strikes, cyber defense, and information operations."

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The Philippine, US, and French navies have also been conducting a multilateral maritime exercise within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

Contingents from the Australian Defense Force and the French Navy have also joined the exercises.