Filipino, US troops build multi-purpose hall for barangay residents

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Filipino and American soldiers are constructing a multi-purpose building in Barangay Tibulao in Carmen, Davao del Norte that villagers and their municipal officials can use for peace dialogues and other community activities.

Radio reports on Friday, April 10, stated that the multi-purpose building project was launched last Monday as part of the United States-Armed Forces of the Philippines Civic Engineering Program, which is focused on humanitarian initiatives and disaster response capacity-building thrusts.

The Army’s 534th Engineer Construction Battalion, the 27th Infantry Battalion, the 1003rd Infantry Brigade, the Carmen local government unit and barangay officials in Tibulao are helping the 10th Infantry Division and US soldiers implement the infrastructure project as part of the US-Philippine Balikatan Exercise 41-2026.

Major Gen. Alvin Luzon, commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said on Friday that their 10th Civil-Military Operations Battalion and local executives are cooperating in overseeing the project.

He said all Balikatan activities and projects were together well planned by AFP officials and counterparts in the US armed forces, attuned to Philippine laws and foreign relations standards.

Luzon said is thankful to municipal officials and barangay leaders in Carmen for supporting the US-AFP multi-purpose building project in their municipality.