Australian and Philippine troops are wrapping up its joint training on urban warfare at a military camp in Rizal Province.

“They will graduate on December 2,” said Major Gen. Rhoderick Parayno, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, referring to around 100 troops undergoing urban warfare training with the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Parayno said the troops taking part in the exercise were among soldiers previously deployed in Marawi City.

He also emphasized the importance of the training for the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“It’s a totally new doctrine because while it’s on the doctrine the army, the military operation on urban terrain, was not given emphasis because the army usually operates in the mountains,” Parayno said.

“Because of Marawi incident we realized that the regular infantry units are ready in this kind of incident, so the graduates from 1st IB I will make them a trainer,” he added.

Parayno said this set of Philippine Army soldiers under the 1st Infantry Battalion is the second batch of students trained by 60 ADF personnel.

He noted that after the second batch, the ADF troops will move to Cavite for the third iteration where they will provide the same training to the Philippine Marines. Robina Asido/DMS