MANILA – The relationship between the Philippine Navy (PN) and the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) remains strong despite the cancellation of naval exercises due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, an official said.
“We would like to assure you that in spite of us not seeing each other face-to-face or physically, the PN and RBN have all the friendship, trust and confidence (that) goes on and the relationship is very strong,” PN Chief, Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo, said during his virtual meeting with RBN’s 1st Admiral Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Othman bin Haji Suhaili on Tuesday.
Bacordo assured his counterpart of support for its future endeavors and continued friendship, a pledge the Brunei naval officer reciprocated.
Tackled in the same meeting were the role of the two navies in helping their governments mitigate the effects of Covid-19 and recent naval engagements, such as the just-concluded “Rim of the Pacific” exercises in Hawaii.
Also discussed was the group sail conducted by BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150) with Brunei’s KDB Darulehsan (OPV-07) and US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG-93) from Hawaii to Guam.
PN public affairs office chief, Lt. Commander Maria Christina Roxas, said other engagements discussed were the Asean Navy Chiefs’ Meeting in November and the Maritime Training Activity – dubbed as “Seagull” – that was postponed this year but is intended to push through by 2021.
Roxas said holding virtual meetings among leaders of neighboring navies has been the new normal due to travel restrictions and enforcement of physical distancing.