Vice Admiral Adeluis Bordado, Flag Officer in Command of the Philippine Navy (PN), could not help but express pride and joy after the “successful” participation of the Philippines’ contingent to the world’s premier and largest joint and combined naval exercise, the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise 2022, in Hawaii.
“This successful RIMPAC participation was another big leap in enhancing and advancing the organization’s core competency and operational capabilities in multilateral naval operations,” Bordado said in a statement Friday, August 26.
The Navy chief led the arrival ceremony for the returning Naval Task Group (NTG) 80.5 onboard the multi-mission capable frigate BRP Antonio Luna (FF151) on Thursday at Pier 15 in Manila South Harbor after their participation at RIMPAC Exercise 2022 in Hawaii from June 29 to August 4.
The 135-member delegation, led by FF151 commanding officer Capt. Charles Merric Villanueva, participated in various in-port and at-sea exercises which aimed to enhance combined interoperability with coalition and allied navies from 25 other countries. A total of 38 ships, four submarines, 170 aircraft, and more than 25,000 naval personnel joined the wargame.
The PN contingent’s remarkable run in RIMPAC 2022 peaked during the Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS) Rodeo when it notched the third best gunnery performance among 17 participating warships.
"The officers and men of FF151 have returned home with a broader and more mature understanding of the role of the Philippine Navy in the grand scheme of regional peace and security," Bordado said.
The Navy chief elaborated that the safe arrival of the delegates and the learnings they took home “are indications of our success not only in promoting our maritime interests, but also in conveying our support to a shared goal – regional stability and maritime peace in the Indo-Pacific region."
"The continuous volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of the security environment indicate that the Philippines will have to become more capable and adaptive partners in protecting regional maritime interests," he added.
The arrival marked the completion of the PN’s third time participatiing in RIMPAC, having been a participant in 2018 and 2020.
The latest iteration of the exercise “provided the right venue” for BRP Antonio Luna to put into test its four-dimensional warfare capability, and for her personnel to enhance their capacity in line with the PN’s thrust of pursuing modern platforms, modern systems, and modern mindsets, Bordado concluded.