Filipinos complete special operations training, PH defense attache speaks to graduates

Students from the Philippines completed recently a course at the Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School at John C. Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi.

NAVSCIATTS Cmdr. Don Speights and Philippine Defense Attache Capt. Salvador Henry Quinto (PN) served as hosts and addressed the 49 graduates from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Guyana, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

In his address, Capt. Quinto stressed the development of the modern soldier. “There are some realities we need to face,” he explained, “Gone are the days that men and women turned into soldiers and sailors by the mere display of sheer strength and their willingness to fight.”

“While most of us joined the service driven by a spectrum of reasons - like patriotism, bloodlines, career, rewards, dreams or even adventure…Today’s military now needs dedicated professionals, responsible experts, and men and women with various skill sets and competencies,” Capt. Quinto averred.

Cmdr. Speights stressed that strengthening global relations and building partner capacity will continue to be a priority for him and his staff.

“While the forefront of our shared global struggle over the past year has focused on Covid-19, we realize global challenges that threaten the security of all our nations and existed prior to the pandemic such as terrorism, illicit drug networks, human trafficking, organized crime, and great power competition,” he explained.

“We must not forget, regardless of our situations and where we are from, we can only counter these challenges by working together. Your service and continued dedication to your countries and international partnerships will no doubt ensure our success against these shared global challenges.”

NAVSCIATTS, which was originally formed as a US Coast Guard mobile training team in 1961 in Rodman, Panama, trains for foreign special operations, combat support, and combat service support.

This semester, students received training in six of the command’s 10 formal courses of instruction, including diesel and outboard motor maintenance, tactical communications, welding and applied repairs, coastal patrol, and UAS (unmanned aircraft) planning and operations. 

“Warfare of this new century requires membership in a profession that shares organic unity and consciousness in various disciplines that make us special and distinct apart from the ordinary men,” Capt. Quinto said. 

Since 1963, more than 13,000 international security force professionals from 123 countries have trained with NAVSCIATTS.

Photos courtesy of NAVSCIATTS 

Forgotten history: Fil-Am scholar wants to tell story of Filipina nurses in Bataan and Corregidor

The Fil-Am scholar who fleshed out the saga of over 1,200 European Jews fleeing Nazi Germany and found a haven in the Philippines in the late 1930s has her eyes set on the largely untold heroism of Filipino nurses during the battles of Bataan and Corregidor.

Dr. Sharon Delmendo, book author, Fulbright scholar, English professor at St. John Fisher College and history detective discussed the tale of the nurses during a recent talk in the home of Sonny and Ceres Busa in Virginia.

She revealed her efforts to dive into records at the MacArthur archives in Norfolk, Va.

“The contributions of Filipina nurses in Bataan are a shamefully neglected chapter of history,” Dr. Delmendo wrote.

“There are so many Filipina nurses serving all over the world today – and still neglected— I think this is a timely subject,” she averred.

Her first book history “The Star-Entangled Banner: One Hundred Years of America in the Philippines" (Rutgers University Press, 2004) unearthed the story of “Manilaners” - German Jews who found  safe harbor in the Philippine capital in World War II. 

Her trail-blazing research led to documentaries and movies, including a biopic on Philippine Commonwealth Pres. Manuel L. Quezon that revolved around the rescue of the Jews. 

Existing literature focus on the “Angels of Bataan” or the “Battling Belles of Bataan” - US Army and US Navy nurses who were caught by the outbreak of the Pacific War in the Philippines. 

There is scant reporting about the presence, much less experiences of Filipina nurses in Bataan and Corregidor. 

The most compelling evidence perhaps is a letter from Capt. Josephine Nesbit, Assistant Chief of Nurse in Manila when the war broke out, listing the names of Filipina nurses assigned to Army hospitals in Bataan and Corregidor. They were brought by the Japanese to the University of Sto. Tomas, where their American counterparts were also detained for much of the war.

“These Filipina nurses unquestionably served loyally and efficiently and perhaps you may be able to them some deserved recognition,” the Surgeon General, Maj. Gen. Norman Kirk wrote Gen. Douglas MacArthur in August 1945.

Dr. Delmendo is ready to take the cudgels and fulfill Gen. Kirk’s wish for the Filipina nurses, largely forgotten.

She believes the achievements of the war-time Filipina nurses paved the way for the acceptance of their modern-day successors in America. Since 1960, more than 150,000 Filipina nurses have found work in the US.

 

Lorenzana bats for MDT review to help PH face China threat

The Philippines wants its 70-year-old defense pact with the United States to recognize threats from China’s “hybrid warfare” in the South China Sea - that didn’t exist in the 1950s - and which now pose a danger to the Philippines, the US and the rest of its allies in the Indo-Pacific region, Philippine Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana said in a forum here this morning.

In a virtual conference sponsored by the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington D.C., Mr. Lorenzana pointed to growing menace from China. He pointed to the de facto annexation of Scarborough Shoal, only about a hundred miles off the coast the country’s main island of Luzon.

When the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) was signed Aug. 30, 1951, the US still had its air and naval bases at Clark, Pampanga and Subic, Zambales. Both were closed after the Philippine Senate rejected 12-11 on Sept. 16, 1991 a proposed treaty that would have extended a Marcos-era lease to keep the bases.

The MDT also made the Philippines one of only two US treaty allies in the region. For a time, Southeast Asian security revolved around the US security umbrella especially during the bipolar Cold War where the Soviet Union was perceived as the primary threat. The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) patterned after Western Europe’s NATO, relied heavily on the deterrence of American bases in the Philippines.

The MDT binds the Philippines and US to come to each other’s aid if either is attacked. Questions have revolved around Article V that defines the meaning of an attack and its purpose, specifying an attack on a “metropolitan area by both parties or on the island territories under its jurisdiction in the Pacific or on its armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific.”

Mr. Lorenzana said, however, that the Philippines wants a review of the MDT to crystallize both nations’ positions on three areas:

-Clarification of US commitments amid rising tensions in the South China Sea, including the “possible expulsion of Filipino troops” in Kalayaan Island or from remote outposts such as those aboard the BRP Sierra Madre that was grounded on Ayungin Shoal in 1999. 

-Inter-operability of US and Philippine assets to confront state-sanctioned intimidation and other hostile activities like those from China’s “hybrid warfare”. It has sent out hundreds of boats at a time and shooed away fishermen from neighboring economic zones. They’ve also enforced an air defense identification zone (ADIZ), warning off passing planes.

 

-Modernization of the Philippine military. The US has to move away from providing “Vietnam-era” armaments, Mr. Lorenzana urged, and support their efforts to acquire advanced weapons to build an adequate deterrent.

 

While the Philippines has benefitted from the MDT, said Mr. Lorenzana, it was never enough to let the Philippines stand on its own two feet.

He stressed it was time for the Philippines to “stop outsourcing our national defense to the US”. The defense chief pointed out that if the US really wants to make the Philippines a steady, reliable partner in confronting China, it will have to help make the Philippines strong enough to face the bully. 

Mr. Lorenzana is scheduled to hold talks with counterpart Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on Friday.

Fil-Ams turn out in “fellowship” with an old friend

For a soldier who’s had numerous deployments throughout a storied career, Delfin Lorenzana, the 72-year-old Philippine Secretary of National Defense might count Washington D.C. as a second home, and tonight his friends came in full force to welcome him at the National Harbor in Maryland.

He came game for the event, billed as a “fellowship” and spent as much time “kodakan” (which was a LOT) as he was answering questions that ranged from the communist insurgency (talk about forever wars) to the Marawi siege to speculations of a run for the Philippine Senate.

He confessed that there’s only one race he’s dreaming of - a final run in the Marine Corps marathon, the gruelling 26-mile foot race that runs through D.C. and Virginia that he’s finished nine times, “before my knees run out”.

“I’ve toyed with the idea,” he finally conceded, intimating that Pres. Rodrigo Duterte had asked him to try a Senate run. He said “no” after asking his wife - who’s had to forsake the bliss of retirement twice before, when he accepted the US posting and later as defense chief - and after surveying the field.

Over 20 years in Washington as defense attache then special envoy on veterans affairs enabled him to cultivate deep contacts in the Pentagon, State Department and Capitol Hill. 

His work lobbying for recognition for Filipino World War II veterans led to the passage of the $265 million Filipino Veterans Equity Fund in 2009 and paved the way for the grant of the Congressional Gold Medal in 2015. That frequently placed him in close touch with key lawmakers from both chambers and both political parties. Few Philippine officials can match this familiarity with intricacies of the American legislative and military apparatus.

Seated at far end of the presidential table was 94-year-old Rey Cabacar, a US Navy veteran who served on a PT Boat in World War II and later on a minesweeper during the Korean War. After retiring, he opened a barber shop in Oxon Hill, a Filipino enclave in Maryland, not far from here.

Gen. Lorenzana recalled how he would drop by for a haircut and Mr. Cabacar would refuse to charge him. They knew each other because Mr. Cabacar was one of the stalwarts for Filipino veterans recognition on Capitol Hill.

The defense chief, like most of the militarymen at the Philippine Embassy, were habitues at Arsenio “Tito Al” Alpapara’s “karaoke bar.” The former Constabulary major had built from scratch the most successful distribution network of Filipino food products in the Metro DC area, supplying everything from M.Y. San Skyflakes to longganisa to his trademark Tito Al’s Chicharon. 

The karaoke chamber was built in a corner of his Oxon Hill warehouse. Tito Al took his music as seriously as his business and found a kindred spirit in the likes of Gen. Lorenzana. 

But on one of his earlier sorties at Tito Al’s, he ran afoul of another Maryland institution -Judge David Valderrama, the first-ever Filipino American to win elective office in the US Mainland. He held the 26th District seat in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1991 to 2003, a post currently held by his daughter Kris.

With his deep baritone, Judge Valderrama has been known to belt a Frank Sinatra ballad with gusto. So when Gen. Lorenzana started singing “My Way”, he got a quick rebuke from the Judge because everyone knew that while he was around that was “his” song.

The wealth of anecdotes about Gen. Lorenzana is testament to the friendships he’s built over many years. To many Fil-Ams in Metro D.C. he’s one of them.

He is scheduled to speak about the South China Sea dispute before the Center for Strategic & International Studies on Wednesday and meet with US Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin on Friday where aides say they will discuss ways to improve the US-PH Mutual Defense Treaty that turned 70 years old last Aug. 30.