LEGAZPI CITY, Albay (PIA) — The City of Bismarck, a United States naval ship, docked at this city’s port on Tuesday, bringing over 200 foreign soldiers for a two-week humanitarian mission as part of Pacific Partnership 2024.
“It’s wonderful to return to the Philippines, where we look forward to training alongside the citizens of Legazpi’s medical and disaster relief personnel,” said Pacific Partnership 24-2 mission commander Capt. Daniel J. Keeler.
Keeler said the Pacific Partnership as the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific.
“We have an Australian deputy commander, a British medical team from the UK, and a Korean ship coming from South Korea. It is truly a multinational effort as we work together to be prepared for whatever happens in the future,” he said.
City Mayor Geraldine Rosal and other city officials welcomed the visiting team.
This year’s mission will focus on four key areas: engineering, medical training and collaboration, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief workshop and entertainment through band performance.
“Our nations share a rich history of collaboration and we look forward to strengthening that mutual cooperation and friendship in the days and years ahead,” Keeler said.
Ship master Chris Jackson said the combined expertise and skills of multilateral forces make them ready and versatile to respond to any event in the Indo-Pacific Region.
“The USNS City of Bismarck is an incredibly diverse platform, with a 20,000 square feet mission bay that can be loaded to carry any cargo, making it ideal to bring Pacific Partnership back to the Philippines for the third consecutive year,” he said.
Pacific Partnership visited Puerto Princesa City, Palawan in 2022 and San Fernando City, La Union in 2023.
The PP24-2 mission also includes stops in Vanuatu, Vietnam and the Federated States of Micronesia. Events are synchronized with the host nation and are organized according to their requests and needs. (With report from Raiza Lucido/PIA5/Albay)
