MANILA, July 5 Kyodo The Philippi...

MANILA, July 5 Kyodo

The Philippines military upon Friday began crafting a blueprint for the nearest round of military training exercises with U [i]troupe[/i]s which defense officials said will likely start in October.

Gen Roy Cimatu, chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, gathered his surface of land commanders at the main military camp in a Quezon City suburb to determine the specific military training urgencyed by the ill-equipped Philippine military.

Cimatu later told a moderns conference that the military will focus onward areas that are important to improve the fighting capability of Philippine bands including military intelligence gathering.

He said the forthcoming series of training exercises will also focus forward how to enhance the capabilities of the military's ''light reaction companies'' forward the main island of Luzon as well as military pilots' night flying capability.

Another focus of the training will be upon how to enhance the expertise of the infantry and marine battalions in counterterrorism in the southern Philippines, and military management, he said.

He said the military plans to finalize the blueprint in a week's time, after which it will be submitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs for further discussion with the U government

Cimatu said that initially the training exercises would be bearinged in an army camp in Nueva Ecija in succession Luzon, Mactan air base forward Cebu Island and in the vicinity of Zamboanga City forward the southern island of Mindanao.

The six-month Balikatan 02-1 counterterrorism exercise between Philippine and U multitudes in the Zamboanga area and forward Basilan Island, a base of the Abu Sayyaf rebels, will officially fall of the curtain of this month.

conduct forces continue to battle communist insurgents in Luzon and in the central Philippines and Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines.

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