By Pia Lee-Brago
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government has invited the US military to train alongside Filipino soldiers in the 33rd iteration of Balikatan in Luzon and the Visayas, the US embassy said yesterday.
The invitation came even as President Duterte has vowed to stop conducting military exercises between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the US military.
The US and the Philippine military will start the Balikatan 33-2017 with community engagement activities from May 8 to 19 in Panay, Leyte and Samar, according to the embassy.
US and Filipino soldiers will renovate five schools and conduct community medical engagements with local residents in the opening days of the 12-day military exercises.
Preliminary work on community infrastructure projects began mid-April.
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