Philippines, Australia Hold 5 Days LUMBAS Maritime Exercise

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is gearing up for a five-day LUMBAS maritime training exercise with the Philippine Navy and the Royal Australian Navy that begins tomorrow, Oct. 22.

Members of the PCG-Special Operations Group (SOG) as well as the Coast Guard's search and rescue vessel BRP Pampanga and helicopter will be deployed to the joint maritime exercise.

Coast Guard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo, said the SOG personnel are scheduled to participate in the joint training to improve their knowledge, skills and tactics in maritime operations.

The main objective of this year's LUMBAS exercise is to provide training on selected personnel of PCG, Filipino and Australian sailors on vessel boarding, border protection, gas and oil security, and law enforcement.

Balilo said the PCG personnel will be interacting with their foreign counterparts to further hone their interoperability skills.

"Interoperability starts from the grassroot level and through the nurturing of friendly relations with training participants," he said.

Balilo emphasized that the maritime joint exercise will allow PCG personnel to have the opportunity to know their counterparts better and establish a good working relationship.

During the LUMBAS, participants will be able to undergo lectures and harbor training to be held in the headquarters of PCG and Philippine Navy in Manila, while the vessel boarding would be conducted in the Manila Bay.

The PCG is regarded as one of the most challenged coast guards in the world. The Philippines has the fourth longest coastline in the world, next to Indonesia, Russia and Canada.

Because of this, the Coast Guard carries many responsibilities on its shoulders that require extensive training.

Apart from LUMBAS, there are members of PCG-SOG being trained to detect weapons of mass destruction under the United States maritime law enforcement course.

On its second week, they are taking up the advance boarding course as well as exercise on radio encryption using the recently donated encrypted radio by the US Export Control and Boarder Security (EXB).

The US Regional EXB handles all the programs and training, which are being given to their Filipino counterparts.-Rebuilding for the Better Philippines (October 20, 2012)