Pacific Partnership 2026 reaches Tacloban, Philippines

Pacific Partnership 2026 has opened its final mission stop in Tacloban City, running from Sept. 18 to Sept. 29. It is the mission’s third visit to Tacloban and the 14th to the Philippines.

The deployment brings together service members from Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, alongside U.S. and Philippine counterparts, as the United States and the Philippines mark 80 years of diplomatic relations. Participants will work with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, non-profit organizations, and Filipino experts to boost regional security, strengthen disaster response and interoperability, and build lasting partnerships.

“Pacific Partnership is further proof of America’s commitment to our ironclad ally, the Philippines,” said Lee Lipton, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines. “It is always amazing to see Americans and Filipinos yet again join forces to make our people safer by delivering essential services, stronger through better disaster response capabilities, and more prosperous through a higher quality of life. In Tacloban during this mission, but across the country every day, we are delivering on the Trump Administration’s priorities for a free and open Indo-Pacific with our oldest treaty ally in the region.”

An opening ceremony is slated for Sept. 21 at the Tacloban City Convention Center, featuring cultural performances by the Leyte Normal University dancers and remarks from Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho Petilla, AFP Maj. Gen. Peter Burgonio, commander of Joint Task Force Storm, and Ambassador Lipton.

“General Douglas MacArthur once vowed, ‘I have returned,’ on the very shores where Pacific Partnership 2026 is taking place today. True to those words, Pacific Partnership has returned to Tacloban City for the third time, continuing a tradition of partnership and cooperation with our Philippine allies that has endured for more than eight decades,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Robert Reyes, mission commander of PP26. “Pacific Partnership is an opportunity to demonstrate America’s commitment to the Philippines and its people remain steadfast. Through disaster response training, engineering projects, medical exchanges, and community outreach, we strengthen our collective readiness, deepen our relationships and build the capacity to stand together, both in times of peace and when crisis strikes.”

Engagements will center on four lines of effort: engineering, medical, disaster management, and host nation outreach. U.S. Navy Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5 and Amphibious Construction Battalion 1 will work with the AFP 546th Engineer Construction Battalion and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Dispatching Engineer Unit on school infrastructure, including installing new water hoses at Santa Elena Elementary School and repairing a roof truss at a two-room schoolhouse in Lorenzo Daa Memorial School.

Medical exchanges will include side-by-side and subject-matter expert sessions in optometry, dentistry, and rehabilitation at Leyte Provincial Hospital, along with community health engagements across four local administrative units. Disaster management activities will feature expert exchanges with local specialists in areas such as urban search and rescue and incident command systems. The Pacific Partnership Band is scheduled to perform at several locations, including Robinson Mall.

“Being welcomed by the people of Tacloban City and the Philippines as a whole has made concluding Pacific Partnership 2026 here especially meaningful,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Mary Rose Gallardo, officer in charge of the Philippines mission stop. “Preparing for this mission has required tremendous time and commitment from all of our lines of effort, so we are all excited to get to work strengthening our ties with our Philippine partners. Learning from each other so that we can prepare for future challenges, building lasting partnerships based on mutual trust, reflects the heart and soul of Pacific Partnership–the people that have made this mission a success for over twenty years.”

This stop prioritizes building collective capacity for disaster preparedness and response, with objectives that include advancing shared priorities through interoperable planning and execution and enhancing collective disaster-response capabilities. The mission underscores preparing during peacetime to respond during crises across the region.

Now in its 22nd iteration, Pacific Partnership is described as the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster management preparedness mission in the region. It works with host and partner nations to improve regional interoperability and disaster response, increase security, and foster enduring friendships. The U.S. 7th Fleet, the Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, regularly operates with allies and partners in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific, while U.S. Pacific Fleet provides combat-ready forces to defend the homeland and U.S. interests, deter aggression, and strengthen alliances and partnerships for regional security and prosperity.