The Philippine Navy (PN) deployed two of its newly-acquired vessels to join in the world’s premier and largest combined naval exercise dubbed as Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) for the first time.

Capt. Lued Lincuna, Philippine Navy spokesman, said the send-off ceremony for Philippine Navy contingents participating in combined naval exercises in and around the Hawaiian Islands from June 27 to Aug. 2 was held on Cebu City Tuesday.

“Two Navy vessels, BRP Davao Del Sur and BRP Andres Bonifacio with an embarked AW 109 naval helicopter, a naval special operations group team and one Marine company will form part of the participating Naval Task Force (NTF) Rimpac,” he said.

“This will be led by Captain Ernesto Baldovino as the Commander NTF Rimpac. The Commander, Fleet-Marine Ready Force, Commodore Toribio Adaci Jr will spearhead the contingent as its head of mission,” he added.

Lincuna said “the NTF will be further complemented by components from Civil Military Operations (CMO), Training, Medical, Legal, and students from different PN education and training schools.”

“The Commander of the AFP Central Command, Lieutenant General Paul Talay Atal together with the Vice Commander, Philippine Navy, Rear Admiral Gaudencio C Collado represented the Chief of Navy oversaw the send-off of the 700-man naval task force,” he said.

Lincuna said “a Royal Malaysian Navy Ship will join the Philippine NTF as it sails from Cebu and will link up with Indonesian Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Royal Australian Navy along the way for the ASEAN++ Group Sail to Rimpac18.”

“The exercise will be done ashore and at sea. Highpoint of the Rimpac is the serialized training, advanced integration, and free play training activities. Key components of the NTF shall participate in the Surface and Air, Amphibious and Special Operations serials of the exercise,” he said.

“The Rim of the Pacific Exercise (Rimpac) is a multilateral naval exercise that covers the entire spectrum of naval operations ranging from disaster response and maritime security operations to sea control and complex warfighting,” he added.

“This is the gathering and showcasing of the best naval assets and personnel around the globe with the end in view of promoting regional stability in the Pacific Region and sustaining cooperative relationship among the participants,” he noted.

Lincuna said “this is the second International Defense and Security Engagement (IDSE) that the Philippine Navy will participate in this year.”

“The first IDSE was in Indonesia where the PN participated in the Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo 2018,” he said. Robina Asido/DMS