Coast Watch Stations a major feature in recently concluded CARAT 2012

MAASIM, Sarangani (MindaNews/16 July) — From afar, the steel facility looks like a cellular phone tower but it is not. It is called the Coast Watch Station (CWS), a facility that can monitor all vessels coming in and going out of our territorial waters, according to Commodore Philip Cacayan, commander of the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao (NFEM).

There’s not just one but six Coast Watch Stations (CWS) in the eastern part of Mindanao, within the NFEM jurisdiction:  in Maasim and Maitum towns in Sarangani;  Kalamansig in Sultan Kudarat,  Balut Island in Davao del Sur, and Cape San Agustin in Gov. Generoso, Davao Oriental. The old one in Glan, Sarangani, where the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) maintains a detachment, is under rehabilitation.

The six stations, costing a total of at least a billion pesos ($25 million) and funded by the United States Government, was a major feature in the recently concluded Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2012 between Filipino and American troops.

It was the 18^th CARAT between the Philippines and the United States but the first ever in Mindanao.  Held on July 2 to July 10, it was participated in by some 450 troops from the Philippine Navy and PCG and at least 400 from the United States Navy (USN) and US Coast Guard (USCG).

The CARAT featured onshore exercises in the Mindanao Sea and offshore drills in General Santos City and Sarangani province.

The US Navy deployed the destroyer USS Vandergrift, a missile-guided frigate, while the USCG deployed Waesche, which is mounted with the 20 mm close-in weapons system and the 57 mm gun weapons system.

On the Philippine side, the PN utilized the Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas (BRP) Magat Salamat, BRP Miguel Malvar, BRP Salvador Abcede and BRP Teotimo Figuracion and BRP Pampanga for the PCG.

The USN also provided aircrafts P3C Orion and a SH-60B helicopter, the PN the PN Islander (PNI 320) and the BO-105 CB from the PCG as part of the naval exercises.

An important part of the at-sea exercises was testing the capability of the CWS.

Cacayan said the Coast Watch Stations have state-of-the-art monitoring and communication system equipped with radars and cameras.

“Not to gather intelligence data”

US Navy Rear Admiral Thomas F. Carney, Jr., the US Naval head of delegation to the CARAT 2012, told reporters on July 4 that the naval exercises between the American and Filipino troops in the seas of Mindanao was purely “to enhance interoperability and not to gather intelligence data” in this part of the country.

“The naval exercise is part of an open source project. We’re promoting maritime domain awareness with the Philippine Navy (through) the Coast Watch Stations,” he said.

At the CARAT 2012 closing ceremony on July 10, US Navy Captain David Welch, commander of Task Group 73.1 and Destroyer Squadron 31, described the CWS as an important part of the naval exercises.

“We had a very good engagement with the entire Armed Forces of the Philippines and that includes the Coastal Watch Stations. We have discussed the results of those exercises and we look forward to continue to include them in future engagements,” Welch told reporters.

He did not elaborate.

Cacayan said one of the exercises involved board and search and search and rescue operations involving a civilian ship considered as a distressed vessel.

“This (distressed ship) was located through the Coast Watch Station in Maasim,” he said.

With the CWS, Cacayan stressed that “they were able to track the vessels conducting the exercises and all assets and watercraft transiting the area.”

“This (CWS) will enhance our maritime domain awareness. We can monitor all the crafts going in and out of our waters,” he noted.

“The CWS can detect big and small boats, fast and slow, even those without computers,” Cacayan also said.

There are also CWS in the western part of Mindanao, with Cacayan revealing that they will be interlinked with those in Eastern Mindanao through a single system.

In Palawan, there are plans to also construct CWS, he said.

Part of Coast Watch South

The CWS is a part of the Coast Watch South, a defense project that is also supported by the Australian government.

In an article titled “Sealing the ‘back door’ in the Philippines,” Dr. Peter Chalk, a senior analyst at the Research and Development Corp. (RAND), said the core objective of Coast Watch South is to provide a system of “maritime domain awareness” that facilitates the movement of desirable people and goods and contributes to the attainment of peace and development objectives in the western and southern Philippines.”

RAND is a global non-profit think tank that seeks to improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis. Its global clients include government agencies, foundations and private sector firms.

In line with its core functions, Coast Watch South is “assigned with the operational tasks of countering threat groups – notably the New People’s Army (NPA, which despite operating mainly in Northern Luzon still retains a residual presence in the southern Mindanao region), the Abu Sayyaf, renegade elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and criminal organizations – enforcing maritime law and providing disaster relief,” according to Chalk.

His report was published on August 26, 2010 at the Strategic Insights of Risk Intelligence, a Denmark-registered limited shareholding company that provides consulting services to private and government clients on security threats and risks.

The Coast Watch South will eventually consist of 13 monitoring platforms that will have both surveillance and interdiction capabilities, Chalk wrote.

He noted that the United States has underwritten the installation of the equipment through Department of Defense 1207 funding, a Pentagon-authorized program that uses defense dollars to perform a State Department function.

“The main benefit of CWS is that it provides a relatively cheap system of surveillance for a large expanse of maritime territory that has traditionally been a major conduit for terrorists, arms traffickers, people smugglers, pirates and other criminals. It would be impossible for the Philippine Navy, much less the Philippine Coast Guard – which is totally bereft of assets (having only a few corvettes and cutters of its own) – to adequately patrol the area,” Chalk said. 

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Bong Sarmiento | MindaNews | July 18, 2012 | Article Link

US sailors warn to learn karaoke from Filipino counterparts

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines—Filipino soldiers are eager to learn new combat techniques from their American counterparts and experience the use of state-of-the-art equipment during the nine-day Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (Carat) 2012 here, but what do US forces want to learn in return?

“To learn karaoke,” said Capt. Dave Welch, commander of the US Navy’s Destroyer Squadron 31 based in Pearl Harbor.

Welch told the Inquirer aboard the USS Vandergrift at the Makar Port here Wednesday that he and his men wish to go out with Filipino soldiers for karaoke before the exercises end on July 10.

“That’s a certain thing that we need help in,” he said.

Welch said some American soldiers might turn out to be “excellent musicians.”

“We usually put them in our bands but I myself, for example, I am not skilled in karaoke,” he said.

Welch said he and his men can use all the help they can get to become skilled in karaoke singing.

Philippine Navy Capt. Robert Empedrad, Carat 2012 exercise director, said they were willing to teach their American counterparts the tricks of karaoke singing.

“If you’re in the navy, you love singing. That’s one way of entertaining your comrades. 

There’s no problem. We can impart to them our skills on that,” he said.

Welch said it was up to Filipino sailors to learn what they could from US forces during the nine-day exercise.

Empedrad said Filipino soldiers can learn a lot too from their American counterparts in the conduct of warfare.

In fact, on Friday, they will participate in a live fire drill with US sailors in  waters off Sarangani province.

“Our ships are already old but what’s important is we will learn a lot from them,” Empedrad said.

Welch described Filipino sailors and members of the Philippine Coast Guard as very professional.

There are around 450 personnel from the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard participating in the Carat 2012. The US Navy and Coast Guard sent  about 500 personnel.

The exercises training include  in-port training, subject matter expertise exchanges, ceremonies and interactions; diving and salvage training at General Santos Bay, Sarangani; and medical/dental/ engineering civic action projects and community relations activities in different locations in General Santos City and Glan in Sarangani.

Commodore Philip Cacayan of the Eastern Mindanao Naval Forces said their American counterparts have installed sophisticated radios in their vessels to address communication gaps.

He reiterated that the exercise has nothing to do with the territorial dispute with China over the Scarborough Shoal.

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Jeoffrey Maitem | Inquirer Mindanao | July 5, 2012 | Article Link

PH-US exercises: Glaring gap between 2 navies

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines - “Iyan ang pangarap natin. Magkaroon man lang sana tayo niyan.” (That is our dream. We wish we'd own one like that.)

Navy Commander Lued Lincuna said this with a sense of resignation as his patrol boat approached USS Vandegrift past noon Sunday, July 1, at the mouth of Sarangani Bay, some 20 nautical miles off General Santos City.

The US frigate is not even in the list of the US Navy's top-of-the-line warships. “Over 25 nautical miles (per hour),” was all Commodore David Welch would volunteer to say when we asked about its maximum speed.

Welch is Task Group 73.1 commander of the US Navy that is participating in the ongoing 2012 CARAT exercises in this city. CARAT stands for Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, an 18-year joint military exercise and training between the US and its allies in Southeast Asia.

USS Vandegrift is a versatile vessel capable of navigating international waters and behind hostile territories. It's armed with torpedoes and is also designed for anti-submarine warfare. It can stay afloat for weeks on end without refueling. Most of all, it can eavesdrop anywhere in the world with its sophisticated listening and surveillance devices. Stationed in San Diego, California, it can be deployed anywhere in the world at a moment's notice.

Docked side by side at Makar Wharf with USS Vandegrift is the US Coast Guard cutter USCGC Waesche. Commissioned in 2006, USS Waesche is the flagship of the US Coast Guard and its most modern vessel.

(Members of the local press here were only allowed limited tour on USS Vandergrift, commissioned in 1984, and were not brought to USCGC Waesche.)

Lincuna recalled the time when the Philippine Navy was known as one of the best in Asia.

“The Philippine Navy had its glory days in [the late 1960s and] 1970s (before Martial was declared),” Lincuna said as his fast attack craft BRP Salvador Abcede made a traditional welcome pass around Vandegrift.

CARAT 2012. Mere exercises? PHOTO by Edwin Espejo

The Philippine Navy however has deteriorated over the years.

According to global intelligence, “Philippine warships are armed entirely with mounted machine guns and deck guns, the largest of which is 3" (76mm)...The Fleet lacks missile-armed ships, greatly limiting range and effectiveness against enemy warships and aircraft. Even antisubmarine (ASW) weapons like depth charges are absent on all or almost all of the Philippine warships. The Philippine Fleet also lacks its own submarines, not to mention aircraft carriers.”

The Philippine Navy was supposed to be the major beneficiary of the P331-billion (US$ 8 billion) 15-year modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that was crafted in 1995. The program never took off until recently when the Navy acquired BRP Gregorio del Pilar, and before that BRP Ramon Alcaraz, under the Excess Defense Articles and the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act of US government.

In May this year, the Philippine Navy issued its own wish list for the modernization of its fleet. It includes 6 frigates configured for anti-air warfare, 12 corvettes designed for anti-submarine warfare, 18 Offshore Patrol Vessels (OVs), 3 submarines, 3 Mine Counter Measure Vessels (MCMVs), 4 Strategic Sealift Vessels (SSVs), 18 Landing Craft Utility (LCU) among others.

CARAT 2012. Mere exercises? PHOTO by Edwin Espejo

The Navy's biggest ship right now is the refurbished BRP Gregorio del Pilar.

BRP Gregorio del Pilar was formerly USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715), built in 1965 but decommissioned by the US Coast Guard in the same year it was transferred to the Philippine Navy.

Commodore Philip Cacayan, commander of the Philippine Navy’s Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao command, said what the navy lacked in equipment and armaments, they make up with their resilience.

He is confident that the Philippine Navy would eventually catch up with its neighbors in Southeast Asia.

Even its ground forces – the Philippine Marines – are still equipped with Vietnam War-era M-16 riffles.

CARAT 2012. Mere exercises? PHOTO by Edwin Espejo

Side by side with some 50 US Marine troops during a riverine exercise, the Philippine Marines and Philippine coast guards can only wish they will someday be issued the M4 version of the Armalite rifles that is currently the standard issue in the US military.

From the combat boots to caps and uniforms to the minutest of combat gear, the Filipino soldier is his US counterpart’s poor cousin.

And each time these exercises are held, the Philippine Navy is reminded that it has a long way to go before it can call its forces a naval fleet. 

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Edwin Espejo | Rappler.Com | July 5, 2012 | Article Link

US ship diverted to Manila Bay to search for missing PAF plane

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – United States (US) salvage ship, USS Safeguard, has been diverted from Mindanao to Manila to conduct search and salvage operations in the mouth of Manila Bay for a missing Philippine Air Force (PAF) trainer plane.

USS Safeguard (T-ARS 50) is one of the US vessels scheduled to participate in this year’s joint Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2012 in Mindanao Sea for nine days starting Monday.

“One of our ships, USS Safeguard will conduct the actual salvage operations within Manila Bay area for the PAF missing plane,” said US CARAT commander Rear Admiral Thomas Carney.

The Singapore-based Carney is the commander of the logistics command of the United States (US) 7th Fleet.

Carny was referring to the PAF SF260 trainer plane that plunged along with its two pilots into the mouth of Manila Bay while on a routine proficiency training flight several weeks an hour after taking off from the Sangley Point Naval Base in Cavite City.

To date, combined efforts of the Air Force and Navy search teams to locate the ill—fated trainer plane, as well as its missing, pilot and co-pilot, have yielded negative results.

Underwater robots used to sweep the seabed of Manila Bay have failed to locate the missing plane, which fishermen saw plumeting into the sea near an island in Mariveles, Bataan.

“In this year’s CARAT, we are not only conducting joint Naval and Maritime training exercises, but actual search and salvage operations for the missing PAF plane,” Carney, in an exclusive interview, said.

Carney said that on board the US Salvage ship, equipped with high underwater detection capabilities, are 25 US navy divers and 70 highly-trained personnel in rescue and salvage operations even in the high seas.

The US salvage vessel, along with USS Vandergrift (FF-G-48) and US Coast Guard ship, USCG Waesche (WMSL-751, is in the country to participate in the CARAT 2012 in the Mindanao Sea which Filipino and US officials launched here yesterday.

On the Philippine Navy side, it is deploying BRP Magat Salamat (PS20), BRP Miguel Malvar (PS-19), BRP Salvador Abcede (PG114) BRP Iloilo and BRP Teotimo Figuracion (PG 389) and BRP Tagbanua, a navy logistic ship, while the PCG is deploying the BRP Pampanga for this year’s CARAT within the Mindanao sea.

Aside from the latest addition of minesweeping and naval insertion operations in this year’s joint training exercise, the naval activities also include search and salvage operations.

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Jaime Laude | The Philippine Star | July 2, 2012 | Article Link

Philippines: US warship makes port call ahead of navy excercises

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – US frigate ship USS Vandergrift arrived here Sunday afternoon and dropped anchor at the Makar port as some 500 American troops prepare for a 72-hour joint naval exercise with the Philippine Navy and coast guards.

Commodore Dave Welsch and the crew of the USS Vandergrift were met by Commodore Marfin Tan (res) and Capt. Robert Empedrad of the Philippine Navy in arrival honors that were dampened by heavy downpour.

Welsch is commanding general of Task Group 73.1 of the US Navy.

Commodore Dave Welsch is welcomed by Commodore Marfin Tan (Res) and Capt. Robert Empedrad (PN) upon arrival of USS Vandergrift at the Makar Wharf.FOTO BY COCOY SEXCION

Commodore Philip Cacayan, head of the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao of the Philippine Navy,  early in the week said US troop movement inland will be restricted and confined to civic military operations.  He said requests for media to board the ships while on exercise will have to be assessed.

Several squads of US Army Special Forces however are already in the city to hold joint military exercises with the Philippine Marines.

The two other US ships expected to participate in the activities failed to join USS Vandergrift.

Sources said US Coast Guard ship USCG Waesche will arrive later in time for the exercise while USNS Safeguard, earlier reported to also join the naval activities here, will instead conduct rescue and salvage training in Manila.

Outside Makar Wharf, some 40 militants belonging to the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) shouted slogans and waved their banners to protest the exercise dubbed Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 21012.

In a press statement, Bayan spokesperson Ryan Lariba said the exercise only proves increasing US military intervention in the country.

Patrol Boat BRP Salvador Abcede skipper Cmdr Lued Lincuna however said the joint exercise will enable the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard to upgrade their tactical capabilities considering that the US Navy have far more advance tactics in naval maneuver and warfare .

Cmdr Lincuna told journalists who boarded the Philippine Navy patrol boat in meeting USS Vandergrift at the mouth of Sarangani Bay just off the coast of Maasim that the exercise will be held in the “Mindanao sea” and will be out of sight of residents around the bay.

“It will also involve live fire exercises,” Lincuna said.  Participating Philippine Navy ships are equipped with 20-mm anti-aircraft guns and caliber .50 heavy machine guns.

The BRP Gregorio del Pilar, recently acquired from the US Coast Guard, is the biggest naval asset of the Philippine Navy.  It has an Mk.75 Oto Melara 76 mm Compact main gun, two Mk.38 M242 Bushmaster 25 mm chain gun at midships.  It will not be joining CARAT 2012, however.

USS Vandergrift is a Perry-class frigate and is capable of storing and launching guided missiles.   It has an Mk 75 76mm/62 caliber rapid firing gun and MK 32 ASW torpedo tubes (two triple mounts).  It also houses two Seahawk helicopters and has a crew of 17 officers and 160 enlisted men.

The Philippines will send a 450-man contingent from the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard to the exercise.

The Philippine contingent will be coming fresh from a taxing rescue operations in Sarangani Bay involving scores of fishermen who were drifted away by a strong storm surge last June 12.

Three fishermen are still missing while the death toll have reportedly risen to at least five other people.

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Edwin Espejo | Asian Correspondent | July 1, 2012 | Article Link

Philippine, US naval exercises slated in Mindanao Sea

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - The Philippine Navy and United States Navy, including the local and US Coast Guards, will conduct an annual combined exercise to ¿enhance interoperability and share best practices¿ for a week in Mindanao Sea in July.

The Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training will be held on July 2 to 10 at the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao area with at-sea activities in the vicinity of Mindanao Sea said Navy spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Omar Tonsay.

The exercise includes in-port training, subject matter expertise exchanges, diving and salvage training at General Santos Bay, Sarangani; and medical, dental, engineering civic action projects and community relations activities in different locations in General Santos City and Glan, Sarangani Province.

The exercise will involve the US Navy and Coast Guard, Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard surface, air, and special operations units in the conduct of shore-based cross training exercises, diving exercise, salvage exercise, air operations exercise, and at-sea fleet training exercises, search and rescue exercise, as well as friendly sports competitions in volleyball and basketball.

The exercise will also test the personnel and naval assets, operational readiness and ultimately, improve the naval defense capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines by an exchange of doctrinal and tactical best practices, Tonsay added.

Carat will be participated in by Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas (BRP) Magat Salamat (PS20), BRP Miguel Malvar (PS19), BRP Salvador Abcede (PG114), and BRP Teotimo Figuracion (PG389) for the PN; the USS Vandergrift (FFG48) and USNS Safeguard (T-ARS 50) for the USN; BRP Pampanga (SARV 003) for the PCG; and the USCG WAESCHE (WMSL751) for the USCG.

The PN will also employ one (1) PN Islander (PNI 320) while the USN will provide a P3C Orion and a SH-60B helicopter together with a BO-105CB helicopter from PCG. Likewise, the exercise will involve around 400 personnel from the PN, 350 from the USN, 50 from the PCG, and 150 from the USCG.

Carat, which started in 1995, is a yearly combined exercise conducted at different Naval Forces areas of operations on rotation basis.

Tonsay said the venues have been determined a year in advance and are finalised following confirmation from both navies.

Last year, the exercise was conducted in Sulu Sea area east of Palawan under the Naval Forces West.

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Frances Mangosing | Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network/Yahoo News Online | 

June 29, 2012 | Article Link

Philippine Navy to add more vessels in Eastern Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, May 10 (PIA) -- The Philippine Navy is planning to deploy two more naval assets at the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao (NFEM).

Captain Robert Empedrad, NFEM deputy commander said yesterday during the Club 888 media forum at Marco Polo Davao, that among the planned additional vessels includes a large patrol ship and a patrol craft.

NFEM’s area of jurisdiction covers the Eastern Mindanao area from the waters off Polloc in Maguindanao, Davao, Surigao, and up to Camiguin.

It has nine naval assets, the largest of which is the patrol ship BRP Magat Salamat (PS-20) while others are smaller but faster patrol crafts. The Magat Salamat is notable for being headed by Commander Luzviminda Camacho the first lady commanding officer of the Philippine Navy.

Empedrad said that the assets are sufficient enough to patrol the coasts of eastern Mindanao; most of the maritime problems involve piracy, poaching, illegal fishing, and human smuggling. For a year now, there has been no piracy incident reported.

Currently, they are planning to strengthen naval presence in Surigao with plans of putting up a naval detachment in Taganito, Surigao del Norte where New People’s Army guerrillas attacked several mining firms late last year.

Empedrad said that unlike areas in the West Philippine Sea where the country is embroiled in a dispute with China there are currently no border disputes between Indonesia who shares a common maritime border within the jurisdiction of NFEM.

He says that the Philippine Navy has built a good relationship with the Indonesian Navy and is conducting annual border patrol exercises under the Border Patrol Agreement signed by the two countries 36 years ago.

The first of the annual border patrol exercises was conducted last April 28 to May 3 participated by about 100 Philippine Navy personnel and the patrol ship Magat Salamat joined by the Indonesian patrol vessel KRI Sura along with 47 Indonesian Navy sailors and officers.

Aside from exercises with the Indonesian Navy, the NFEM will also be hosting the United States Navy-Philippine Navy “Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training” (CARAT) Exercise 2012 this coming June 28- July 9 in Glan, Sarangani Province. 

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Rudolf Ian G. Alama | Philippine Information Agency | May 10, 2012 | Article Link

Mindanao town execs look forward to PH-US naval war games in June

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines—Officials of the coastal town of Glan in Sarangani province have started preparations for their hosting of a joint naval exercise between the Philippine and US navies at the end of June.

Lieuutenant Joseph Armand Sieras, operations officer of the Naval Forces in Eastern Mindanao, said the two-week exercise will be held from June 28 to July 9 under the codename “Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training Exercise 2012, or Carat.

He said that aside from the naval exercises, the Philippine and US forces will also be help fix roads, bridges and other public infrastructure and hold medical missions in selected villages in the municipality.

“Through these programs we hope to improve the quality of life and the general health and welfare of local residents, including government employees, and enable both navies to build a more personal relationship with them,” Sieras said.

He said US Navy representatives, led by Captain Wally Lovely, had toured possible sites for the civilian-military operation component of the exercise.

Glan Mayor Victor James Yap, Sr. said they have started preparing for the exercise, including the identification of sites for the medical missions.

He said the Glan government was happy over the choice of the town as venue for the war games because they would help boost local tourism.

“People following up the developments on television will be able to see our beautiful white-sand beaches, our rich vegetation, and the hospitality and gaiety of our people. That would be a big boost to our own tourism development efforts,” he said.

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By Aquiles Zonio
Inquirer Mindanao

11:14 am | Thursday, March 1st, 2012

Article Link

Glan host to 2012 joint RP-US naval exercise

GLAN, Sarangani (February 27, 2012) — The next joint RP Navy-US Navy exercise of the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao (NFEM) will be held here on June 28-July 9, this year.

Codenamed “Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Exercise 2012,” the two-week activity aims to strengthen the relationship of both navies and enhance their mutual co-operation, said Navy Lt. Joseph Armand Sieras, NFEM operations officer.

For its Civil Military Operations (CMO), CARAT 2012 will conduct Medical Civic Action Program (MEDCAP), Dental Civic Action Program (DENCAP), Engineering Civic Action Program (ENCAP) and Community Relations (COMREL) in selected barangays.

“Through these programs we hope to improve the quality of life and the general health and welfare of local residents, including government employees, and enable both navies to build a more personal relationship with them,” Sieras told Mayor Victor James B. Yap, Sr. in a briefing.

Assisted by local government personnel, a joint survey team, led by US Navy Captain Wally Lovely, visited several possible sites for the CMO activities, including Glan Central Elementary School and Glan School of Arts and Trades.

The team later met with Gov. Migs Dominguez and Mayor Yap for the formal acceptance rites held aboard the RPS Miguel Malvar at the Glan Wharf.

In brief remarks, Mayor Yap thanked the NFEM for choosing Glan as this year’s venue for CARAT, saying the event would help highlight the town’s growing importance, both from economic and strategic standpoints.

“People following up the developments on television will be able to see our beautiful white sand beaches, our rich vegetation, and the hospitality and gaiety of our people. That would be a big boost to our own tourism development efforts,” he said.

Dubbed "Coconut Queen of the South", this colonial town is home to the now famous Gumasa beaches. -----------------------------------------
GLAN INFO AND NEWS SERVICE
02/27/2012

Provincial Government of Saranggani, Philippines

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