DATU BLAH SINSUAT, Maguindanao del Norte — Filipino and American soldiers held in a seaside village where an amphibious sea-to-shore anti-terror assault drill and an artillery fire exercise on Wednesday, in the presence of local officials from Bangsamoro towns around.
The activity was part of the Marine Exercise 2025, organized by the Philippine Marine Corps and its US counterpart, which was launched in the upland Barira town in Maguindanao del Norte almost two weeks ago.
It also involved the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, the Philippine Coast Guard, and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PRO-BARMM).
American and Filipino soldiers used small, but high-speed watercraft in their beachfront combat drill, capped off with a simulated presence of terrorists at the shores of Barangay Penansaran, which is home to mixed Maguindanaon and ethnic non-Muslim Teduray villagers.
Also present in the event at Barangay Penansaran were ranking officials of the Western Mindanao Command led by its commander, Army Lt. Gen. Antonio G. Nafarrete, and representatives from the Naval Forces Western Mindanao and the Philippine Army Artillery Regiment.
“We are grateful to the municipal government of Datu Blah Sinsuat and its local chief executive for helping push this activity forward,” Mr. Nafarrete said, referring to Mayor Marshall I. Sinsuat, the chairperson of their multi-sector Municipal Peace and Order Council.
Mr. Nafarrete said the commander of the Philippine Navy’s 1st Marine Brigade, Brig. Gen. Romulo Quemado, and Army Major Gen. Donald Gumiran of the 6th Infantry Division, cooperated in helping oversee the exercise. — John Felix M. Unson
