Phl to participate in Australia-led multinational maritime exercise

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine Navy (PN) will send 180 Navy personnel and one of its two Hamilton-class cutters to attend the multinational military exercise soon to be held in Australia, Philippine military announced today.

The exercise, dubbed as"KAKADU 2014", is to be held from Aug.25 to Sept. 12 at Northern Australia Exercise Area.

The Philippine cutter, BRP Ramon Alcaraz, will depart from Subic Bay in northern Philippines on Sunday after the scheduled Send-Off Ceremony.

KAKADU is the largest multinational maritime exercise hosted biennially by Australian Navy with an aim to promote and enhance regional interoperability and cooperation among the participating navies, according to a press release issued by PN.

This year's exercise will be attended by 12 countries with Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Pakistan and Australia as participants, while Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Thailand, Vanuatu, South Korea and India will be sending personnel as observers.

This is the second time the Philippines sent its ship to participate in the exercise since it began in 1993.