02 October 2014 - A delegation from the Guam National Guard (GUNG), led by Major General Benny M. Paulino and composed of Col. David B. Riano, Col. George L. Charfauros, and Major Jumar “Jay” Castro, visited the Philippine Consulate General in Agana on September 29 to provide a briefing to Philippine Consul General Marciano R. De Borja on the activities of and future events lined up under its State Partnership Program (SPP) with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Col. Riano provided a brief background on the history of the SPP that began in 2001, focusing on civil-military operations, professional development and humanitarian assistance/disaster response (HADR). In 2012, it expanded to include HADR subject matter expertise exchanges (SMEE) in partnership with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and in 2013 it became a sub-committee within the Philippines-US Mutual Defense Board.  The SPP operates under the authority of Philippines-US Mutual Defense Treaty and is the first of its type in the Asia-Pacific region followed by the Washington National Guard-Thailand Partnership.

Maj. Castro then provided a briefing on the various SPP program components and activities and highlighted past achievements mainly in the Philippines such as exchanges of AFP Senior Staff, Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Response, Medical and Dental Exercises, Engineering Expertise, Professional Development Expertise, US Army ROTC Culture and Language Exchange, and other bilateral engagements between GUNG and the AFP. He said that there were 83 programs which have been completed under the program from 2003 to 2014.

For 2014, a total of 17 SPP programs have been planned and 13 have already been completed.  Among the four remaining programs to be implemented for 2014 is the AFP ROTC Exchange to be participated in by 13 participants from the different colleges/universities in the Philippines which will be held in the University of Guam from October 19 to 24.

Consul General de Borja expressed appreciation to Major General Paulino and his delegation for regularly updating the Consulate General on the SPP. He also expressed appreciation to the Guam National Guard for implementing the SPP which surely contributes to building the capability of the AFP and helps various community projects.   

Joining the Consul General during the presentation were Consuls Edgar Tomas Q. Auxilian and Mark Francis C. Hamoy, and Ms. Angie Cirineo. END