The Philippine Navy through the Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM) concluded the 5-day Exercise Pagsisikap 2021 with an Amphibious raid and landing at the White Beach of barangay Bulangsi in Panamao, Sulu on October 29, 2021. Days prior to the Amphibious Landing, troops from the 2nd Naval Mobile Construction Batallion, Marine Battalion Landing Team 8, Naval Reservists, and civilian volunteers undertook Civil-Military Operations activities in the area through the construction of a flea market which residents can utilize to display and sell their produce and the improvement of three (3) deep wells used by the barangay as sources of fresh water supply. There was also a medical mission where residents availed of free medical consultation and minor surgery.
The amphibious operations utilized two (2) Landing Crafts and four (4) Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAVs) which were launched from the sea from Landing Dock 601 (LD601) off the shorelines of Panamao, Sulu. The Landing Crafts and the AAVs carried a battalion of marines from the Marine Amphibious Ready Unit (MARU) who were inserted from the sea to the area to assimilate the retaking of the coastal barangay from enemy forces. Prior to the insertion ashore of the main body, Navy SEALS were landed earlier to “clear the area and neutralize prepositioned targets” to mitigate the risk against the arriving MARU. At the completion of the naval exercise, a Closing Ceremony was conducted at the Headquarters of 4th Marine Brigade and Naval Task Group Sulu at Brgy. Tandu Bato, Luuk, Sulu.
During the exercise critique and hotwash held aboard LD601 in Zamboanga City on 30 October 2021, RADM Adaci commended all the participants for exerting their efforts to accomplish all the given scenarios and serials of the exercise including the successful firing of the Spike ER missile. He lauded the success of the activity and the accomplishment of its objectives to test wartime and peacetime naval operations doctrines, train sailors and marines to keep them operationally ready, and project the capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines particularly the Navy’s Fleet-Marine forces to protect and secure the country’s archipelagic waters and littoral areas. All activities related to the exercise were conducted following health protocols to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
