MANILA – Around 22 of the country’s best Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) cadets were sent to Guam Sunday to participate in the five-day ROTC Cultural Understanding and Language Program (CULP) Exchange 2018.
Rear Admiral Samuel Felix, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Reservists and Retiree Affairs (OJ-9), said these Filipino ROTC cadets will work side-by-side with their University of Guam (UOG) counterparts in the planning and execution of a field training exercise from Oct. 15 to 19.
The cadets, who came from various ROTC programs nationwide, were selected through a set of stringent criteria and parameters through the office of the Manpower Development and Administration Division led by Capt. Pedro Samson, Jr.
These include academic performance and their overall standing in the program. The delegates are third and fourth year college students who are mostly corps commanders or deputy commanders of their respective units.
The contingent is led by Col. Kennedy C. Saguindang. He is assisted by three other officers and two enlisted personnel from the AFP who will act as cadres to direct and monitor the AFP ROTC cadets during the CULP.
This year’s CULP Exchange Program is hosted by the Guam National Guard (GUNG) UOG Army ROTC Program.
The CULP Exchange Program aims to enhance cultural and leadership awareness of AFP ROTC cadets as well strengthen the partnership between the AFP and United States Armed Forces.
As a United States territory, Guam seeks to familiarize the participants of the role of the GUNG and its senior ROTC cadets in supporting the US military. CULP is one of the State Partnership Programs of Guam and Philippines under the PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty.
It is one of the training activities approved under the Mutual Defense Board and Security Engagement Board (MDB-SEB) meeting held last year.
The exchange program is an opportunity for the AFP to assess and evaluate the UOG’s ROTC Program that will serve as benchmark for the enhancement of its own reserve force’s education and training. (Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)
