NEW IBAJAY, El Nido, Palawan, Philippines — In New Ibajay, health care started with coordination. Before the first patient moved through the site, U.S. and Armed Forces of the Philippines service members, alongside local leaders, worked through the details together. Tables were set, supplies were organized and patient flow was planned with input from the people who knew the community best.
By the time residents arrived, the cooperative health engagement was not just a military event. It was a shared effort between partner forces and the New Ibajay community. U.S. and Philippine service members conducted the engagement in New Ibajay, El Nido, Palawan, Philippines, April 27-30, 2026, as part of Exercise Balikatan 2026.
The health engagement included medical and dental consultations, preventive medicine education, community mental health discussions, CPR training and first aid instruction. Each part of the event was designed to support local priorities while giving U.S. and Philippine personnel an opportunity to work together in a real-world setting. Across three days of execution, the combined health team supported 679 patient interactions, including 557 medical consultations and 122 dental consultations.
The numbers showed the scale of the effort, but the story of the site was found in the pace of the work itself. Residents moved through screening, consultations and health education stations while U.S. and AFP personnel coordinated alongside community representatives. Medical providers, corpsmen, medics, dental personnel, civil affairs teams and local partners worked through each day with a steady rhythm built on communication and trust.
“Even with the language barrier, we understand each other because our purpose is the same,” said Philippine Nurse Corps Capt. Mae Antoinette Mercado, a nurse with the Armed Forces of the Philippines Reserve Command. “When we are in the field together, it works because we all know why we are there: to take care of people.” As patient volume shifted each day, the team adjusted together. Providers moved between consultation areas, dental personnel managed their stations, and support staff helped maintain patient flow. The coordination allowed the team to continue providing care while reinforcing the combined planning and execution Balikatan is designed to strengthen.
That cooperation extended beyond the health site. On April 29, the site’s civil-military engagement efforts came together during a Bundle of Joy ceremony at New Ibajay-El Nido Elementary School. U.S. and Philippine service members joined local leaders, educators and community representatives to donate electronics and classroom equipment while engineers continued work on a two-classroom schoolhouse designed to support more than 400 students.
Together, the cooperative health engagement, Bundle of Joy ceremony and schoolhouse construction reflected the broader humanitarian civic assistance effort at the site. Each activity connected U.S. and Philippine service members with local leaders, educators, students and families through a shared mission focused on partnership.
“This worked because everyone came together to help in a real way,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Kaitlyn Scott, a nurse assigned to the 673rd Medical Group. “U.S. and Philippine service members worked alongside local leaders and the New Ibajay community to provide care, training and support where it mattered.”
By the end of the engagement, the story of New Ibajay was not about one group providing support to another. It was about a combined team working with a community to help people.
Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military that represents the strength of our alliance, improves our capable combined force, and demonstrates our commitment to regional peace and prosperity.