The Philippine Navy (PN) contingent for the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise left for Cebu before leaving to Hawaii on June 6.

A Royal Malaysian Navy ship will join the Philippine Navy Task Force as it sails from Cebu and will link up with the Indonesian Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Royal Australian Navy along the way for the ASEAN++ Group Sail to the Rim of the Pacific exercise.

The Philippine Navy is sending a task force for the first time to participate in the world's largest international maritime exercise scheduled on June 27 to Aug. 2, in and around the Hawaiian Islands.

The BRP Davao Del Sur and BRP Andres Bonifacio with a AW 109 naval helicopter, a naval special operations group team and one Marine Company will form part of the participating Naval Task Force.

Captain Ernesto Baldovino will be the commander of the Naval Task Force. Commodore Toribio Adaci Jr., commander of the Fleet-Marine Ready Force, will spearhead the contingent as its head of the mission.

Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad, the Flag Officer In Command, boosted the morale of the personnel and ensured the readiness of the contingent.

The NTF will be boosted by components from Civil Military Operations, training, medical, legal, and students from different Navy education and training schools

This is the second International Defense and Security Engagement that the Navy will participate this year. The first was in Indonesia where the Navy participated in Komodo 2018.

The PN’s participation is expected to advance its maritime operational capability to multilateral level, enabling the Navy to be more effective and efficient. DMS