By Francis T. Wakefield
The 34th Philippines-United States Exercise Balikatan (BK) officially ended yesterday in a closing ceremony attended by high-ranking officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and United States Armed Forces at the AFP Commissioned Officers Club in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
Michael S. Klecheski, US Charge d’ Affaires, was present in the activity as the Guest of Honor and Speaker during the closing ceremony of BK 2018.
He was joined by AFP Chief of Staff General Carlito Galvez Jr.; National Defense Undersecretary Cardozo Luna; PH-BK Exercise Diretor Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Salamat, and Maj. Gen. Thomas Weidley of the US Marine Corps, the US Officer Conducting Exercise Balikatan.
“We close this year’s Balikatan Exercises with both Philippine and US Forces gained maximum benefits from the various training exchanges and cooperation.
It provided venue for lot of more learning opportunities but also extended significant community assistance that gained popular support of less fortunate people in selected area in Northern Luzon,” Salamat said.
