Philippines, US Marines wrap up joint drills in Maguindanao del Norte

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May 29, 2026 | 6:01pm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Efforts by the business sector to entice investors to put up viable ventures in a peaceful town in Maguindanao del Norte got a boost with the conduct of combat drills by Filipino soldiers and their counterparts from the United States, officials said on Friday, May 29.

The Philippine–United States Marine Exercise (MAREX) 2026 in beachfront areas in Datu Blah Sinsuat culminated in a formal rite on Thursday, attended by officials of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, representatives from the Bangsamoro regional government led by Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacaua, and Maguindanao del Norte Vice Gov. Marshall Sinsuat.

"That military exercise was tacit proof that the west coast of Maguindanao del Norte is indeed peaceful. It is good for the area's investment climate," Macacua, chairperson of the multi-sector Bangsamoro Regional Peace and Order Council, said.

Cotabato City-based lawyer-entrepreneur Ronald Hallid Dimacisil Torres, chairman of the Bangsamoro Business Council, said on Friday that the May 21 to 28 MAREX 2026 was a strong push for their programs to attract investors from outside to establish feasible businesses in the seaside barangays of the adjoining Datu Blah Sinsuat and Datu Odin Sinsuat towns in Maguindanao del Norte.

Datu Blah Sinsuat is popularly touted as the most peaceful among Maguindanao del Norte’s 12 towns. It is close to Cotabato City, the capital of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Torres, also president of the multi-sector Regional Advisory Group of the Police Regional Office–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters that the MAREX 2026 in Datu Blah Sinsuat also proved that there is no presence in the area of groups tagged as "enemies of state" by both the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“That military exercise was something we can use to attract our counterparts outside of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to pour in investments into Datu Blah Sinsuat municipality, which is, indeed, the most peaceful municipality in Maguindanao del Norte,” Torres said.

Another group of Filipino Marines and US soldiers also held joint exercises from May 21 to May 28 in the equally tranquil upland Barira town north of Maguindanao del Norte, where the headquarters of the Navy’s 1st Marine Brigade is located.

Barira and Datu Blah Sinsuat towns are both inside the area of responsibility of the 6th ID, led by Army Maj. Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara.

Cagara and Lt. Gen. Donald M. Gumiran, commander of the Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City, separately told reporters on Friday that they are grateful to Maguindanao del Norte Gov. Tucao Mastura and Sinsuat, who as vice governor is also a member of the provincial peace and order council, as well as Datu Blah Sinsuat Mayor Raida Tomawis-Sinsuat and other local officials in Barira for supporting MAREX 2026 extensively.

“We can’t thank all of them enough,” Cagara said.

The MAREX 2026 was capped off with an actual artillery fire drill by Filipino and American soldiers at the Philippine Marine Forward Operating Station in Barangay Penansaran in Datu Blah Sinsuat last Thursday.

The 6th ID, the Army’s 6th Field Artillery Battalion, and units of the 1st Marine Brigade in Barira and Datu Blah Sinsuat cooperated in ensuring the success of MAREX 2026, according to Sinsuat and municipal officials in both towns.